A Glimpse
by bsloths
Summary: "Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next." Glee after graduation. Multichapter. Puckleberry.
1. Into the Void

Hi, Puckleberry fandom! I started writing this before "Goodbye" aired, so it's AU from that point forward. In this fic, Kurt and Rachel get into NYADA and Finn gets into Pace (no idea how, but I was operating under the assumption that he would, to make things easy). Besides these issues, I try to stick as close to canon as possible.

Since we're faced with the long summer hiatus with no new episodes, and probably no more Puckleberry to look forward to in September, I thought it'd be nice to write a full-on Puckleberry story. This is totally different from anything I've ever done (in this or any other fandom) and I hope you'll enjoy the journey I take these characters on—it's been a blast to write and I'm really excited about it! I did a little bit of research about Broadway and New York and such but I probably got a lot wrong—chalk it up to artistic license, okay?

And just FYI, the chapters get longer after this one. This is more of a prologue to start us off.

Enjoy!

-Brandi

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be affiliated with the television show _Glee_ nor do I claim to have any ownership over its copyright. I am simply borrowing the characters for some extracurricular activities and will return them, unharmed, to their rightful owners when this fic is over.

**Chapter 1: Into the Void**

**"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next."**

—**Gilda Radner**

Graduation. The day Rachel had been looking forward to for four long years. The day that finally meant she could get the heck out of Lima and make something of herself. The day that meant she and Finn could truly start their life together.

The seniors were lined up alphabetically in their caps and gowns, ready to head into the auditorium. She looked around at her classmates and was pleased that for once, the tears streaming down her face weren't out of place.

Finn broke his spot in line to stand next to her. "How are you feeling?" he leaned down to ask.

"Excited. Sad. I don't know." She smiled up at him through her tears, and he smiled back. "How are you holding up?"

He shrugged. "Same."

They were quiet for a moment. Finn opened his mouth and began to say something else, but Rachel couldn't hear him due to a sudden rushing in her ears.

"What? Finn, I can't—" Suddenly her vision went black. She reached her hands out to touch him, to tell him that something was terribly wrong, but the rushing in her ears was so loud she couldn't think straight. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, but everything was still pitch black.

"Finn!" she screamed as the ground was ripped out from under her, and suddenly she was falling, down, down, surrounded by blackness and the incessant whistling in her ears. She closed her eyes.


	2. Unremembered Past

**Chapter 2: Unremembered Past**

When Rachel opened her eyes, she was staring at a door. The falling sensation was over with, and she looked down at her feet. She was standing on concrete steps.

She looked left, and then right. The door she first saw was attached to a brownstone townhouse, connected to other townhouses on each side. She turned around and saw that she was on the top step. At the bottom of the steps was a wrought-iron gate, and beyond that, a tree-lined street.

"Okayyy," she murmured to herself, trying to get her bearings. She had obviously been teleported somewhere or sucked into some alternate dimension. And she was obviously dreaming. Why she fell asleep in the middle of graduation was a question for later. Right now, she had to figure out how to wake up.

She spun around in a circle, taking in the view one more time. _Huh. Not a bad setting for a dream._ She went to pinch her forearm, and it was then that she noticed her hand was gripping a key. Opening her palm, she saw that the key was attached to a keychain shaped like a palm tree that said "Florida 2017." She puzzled over that for a moment, and, not coming up with any explanation, decided this was yet another question for later. That was, if she even remembered this dream. She pinched the top of her hand, and yelped in pain. The only thing that happened was that now she had an angry red welt on her hand. _Why aren't I waking up?_

As she studied the keychain again, she realized she had a purse slung over her arm. She pulled it off, admiring it. It had a pattern on it she didn't recognize, but it was obviously designer. It even _smelled_ expensive. She slid open the zipper, curious what her dream self would pack in a purse. She fished around, surprised that there was nothing dream-y about it. The purse contained everything her waking self carried.

But wait. There _were_ some weird things. She pulled out a black rectangle, one side shiny like a screen, the other side plastic. It looked like a phone, but there were no buttons or any indication of how to turn it on. She opened the wallet. It contained a few ones, an Actor's Equity card, an NYC subway system MetroCard, a Whole Foods membership card, and a New York state driver's license. These things weren't in her waking wallet. She studied the driver's license. It was her, Rachel Barbra Berry, with her birth date, height, and eye color. The address said 724A President Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215. How nice—she was dreaming she lived in New York. Then she noticed that the license expiration date said May 25, 2027. How odd.

In another pocket of the wallet she found a wad of photographs—her dads in a posed studio portrait, a blonde girl who looked vaguely familiar smiling from a canoe, Noah lying shirtless on her bed. She recognized that one. She'd taken it the week they were dating sophomore year. It was worn at the edges, as if she'd looked at it many times. The picture was currently shoved in the back of her junk drawer at home. Why would her subconscious want her to see the photo in her wallet?

It got weirder. More photos of Noah followed. Noah playing basketball. Noah with her on a beach. Noah and her in front of the brownstone she was currently also in front of.

She peered closely at the photos. She looked different in them. The two photos of her were slightly off, as if she'd been photoshopped. She was a little fuller in the face. The laugh lines around her eyes were more pronounced. In the one with the brownstone, her hair was shoulder-length. She unconsciously reached up to pat her hair, and gasped when she felt it ending just above her shoulders. Where was all of her hair?

She dropped the wallet back into the purse and dug around for a mirror. She found a compact and snapped it open, gasping again when she saw that her face looked like the one in the photo. Her bangs were gone, and she had more wrinkles, though not too many. She looked _older_.

The driver's license. Her apparent aging. The strange pictures. Maybe her dream was taking place in the future? She pinched herself again, to no avail.

_Well then. I may as well play along._ She picked up the keychain from where she'd dropped it into the purse and inserted the key in the door.

The door swung open, and Rachel blinked in surprise. The hallway directly in front of her was wood-paneled and cozy-looking. A narrow set of stairs led to a second floor, and she could see a kitchen down the hall to the left, a living room to the right. If she was dreaming about her future house, she definitely approved.

She wandered down the hall toward the kitchen, noticing that the walls were lined with more pictures. A few group shots of the New Directions. A few of that blonde girl again. There were several of her older self with Noah, who she now realized looked slightly older in these photographs as well. According to the backgrounds of these pictures, it looked like they'd been to Paris, to Rome, to Hollywood. She noticed one with palm trees in the background and thought back to the Florida 2017 keychain. So, apparently she'd been to Florida with Noah when they were 23. How old was she now?

She reached the kitchen and stopped short when she saw Noah at the counter, taking things out of grocery bags.

"Hey, Babe. Thought we'd stay in and eat tonight if that's okay." He came over to kiss her cheek and she leaned into it automatically, stunned at seeing older Noah in the flesh. His Mohawk was gone and in its place was closely shaven hair evenly distributed over his head. He was still muscular, with perfect bone structure, but he definitely looked older. This dream was unusually vivid. And why was he in her house?

"Hi," she mumbled, looking around the kitchen. It had a blue-and-white checkerboard motif and a white granite island counter where Noah had gone back to sorting through the groceries. She noticed a calendar hanging from one of the cabinets and did a double-take. June 2025. That meant she was 31.

And suddenly it hit her full force—she couldn't be dreaming. Everything was too detailed, too real. She didn't _feel_ like she was dreaming, and pinching herself hadn't worked. Somehow, she was getting a glimpse at her future.

But why was she living with Noah in this future? She glanced down at her left hand, wondering … and there it was. A gold wedding band and diamond engagement ring. She snuck a peek at Noah's hand, and he was wearing the same gold band.

_Whoa._ So in this future, she was married to Noah. She wasn't sure what to do with that information.

"Are you okay?" Noah looked over at her and caught her staring into space, trying to process all of this.

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine."

He didn't look convinced. She gave him the biggest smile she could muster. "Just tired. I'm going to go upstairs and rest."

"You're not getting sick, are you?" He came over to feel her forehead, and she pushed his hand away, flushing at the fuss he was making.

"I'm fine, honestly, Noah." She smiled again. "Just give me a few minutes to lie down. Then I'll come help you with dinner."

It felt strange to be in such a domestic situation with him. But she was starting to realize that she was hungry, another sign that this was some sort of alternate reality, not a dream.

She turned around and walked quickly past the hallway of photographs. She made a U-turn to go up the stairs, and when she reached the second floor, she had no idea where to go next. There were four doors, all shut. She picked the one to the right at random, and she entered what was apparently the gym mixed with the storage room. Boxes were stacked in one corner opposite her elliptical machine. There was also a treadmill, a recliner, and some free weights placed haphazardly around the other corners.

She shut that door and returned to the hallway. The next door opened to what at first glance looked like the guest room, but when Rachel looked closer she saw that there was an iPad sitting on the dresser, baseball gear piled next to the closet door, and the bedspread was hot pink. This couldn't possibly be their bedroom?

Then she noticed the photographs. She was lucky her future self took a lot of pictures, because they were a big help in allowing her to orient herself. These pictures were all of a blond teenage girl with other teenagers, and a few with Noah and Rachel, and … Shelby. "Oh my gosh," she hissed aloud. _Beth_.

Knowing it was wrong, but her curiosity getting the better of her, she tiptoed into the room and scanned it for more clues. The bookshelf was empty. She opened the top drawer of the dresser. Empty. The closet held a winter coat, but that was it. Beth must only come to stay for short visits. Though Rachel wondered how long it was between visits, because she'd left her iPad here.

She stepped back into the hall and closed Beth's door behind her. The next door led into a spacious bathroom, but there didn't seem to be any clues in there.

She headed to the last room, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was the master bedroom, and that it too was full of photographs. Noah with Sam and Artie at a restaurant. Rachel with Tina and Quinn in Times Square. Rachel with Mercedes and Kurt at what looked like a _Wicked_ performance. Kurt and Blaine all dressed up next her and Noah at a table. Noah and Beth playing baseball. Noah, Rachel, her dads, and his mom. Noah and his sister.

It made her happy to see that she seemed to be friends with some of the glee kids. But the absence of Finn was unsettling. Why wasn't he in any of these pictures? And then there were more of the Rachel-and-Noah shots, from a past together she had no way to remember. Kissing on a beach. Kissing at the top of the Empire State Building. A professional shot from their wedding. She studied her wedding dress, a mermaid gown with a sweetheart neckline, encrusted with something sparkly that hit the sunlight just right. Noah looked dapper in a white tuxedo. And they were both beaming.

She gazed at that photograph until she realized it was not going to hold any more clues about their wedding day. The background was a generic trellis.

She looked around the room again and spotted a filing cabinet. She dropped her purse, which she had completely forgotten she was still holding, and tore into the cabinet, pushing aside files that said things like "Taxes 2024" and "Deed and House Papers." She found a file folder that had a heart on the tab, and flipped it open to reveal their marriage certificate. 2017. The year they'd gone to Florida—that must have been their honeymoon.

Wow. They'd been married _eight years_.

She found another folder marked "W-2 Forms." The first form said she was a music teacher at St. Regis Academy, and that name didn't ring a bell.

Wait … she was a _teacher_? What happened to _Broadway_?

She flipped to the next W-2 and saw that Noah owned a business called Noah's Ark. So, he'd succeeded with his pool cleaning business. And from the tax form, it looked like he made a lot of money.

So that was their life—Noah supported her while she _taught_ _music_?

That couldn't be true. She looked for another folder that would describe her job, and she found one marked "St. Regis." She flipped through a brochure from the file and all she could glean was that it was a prestigious private school on the Upper East Side. She skimmed the copy of her contract in the folder, and saw that she was teaching middle school. She shuddered. What in the world would possess her to spend her days with whiny preteens? She taught chorus classes and apparently held private tutoring sessions as well. She'd started teaching two years ago.

Disgusted with what she found, she went back to the files. She opened one labeled "Noah's Ark Contacts" and found Noah's client list—no wonder he made so much money. On the list were the names of all of the Trumps, plus several universities located in New York. And then there were names she didn't recognize—most with Hamptons addresses. She was happy that he had done so well for himself.

And she let herself wonder for a split second how many women he'd slept with to get there.

"Don't be mean," she chided herself. Maybe he really had done it all on the level. Either way, he was married to her now, so she was sure his cougar-chasing days were behind him. Even Noah knew how to be monogamous. She wondered how he'd ended up in New York. Had he gone to college? How had they ended up together?

There was so much she didn't know. But how in the world could she ask him without sounding crazy? He obviously didn't realize she wasn't her future self. She was her 18-year-old self trapped in her 31-year-old body.

And now her head was spinning. Maybe she really did need to rest!

Something in her purse buzzed, and she fished out the rectangle. She rubbed her hand along it, trying to find a power button, an answer button, something. When she pressed her thumb to the screen accidentally, it flashed on, and she jumped. She had just received a text from Tina. _Can't wait for my trip up to see you in July. Need it. Chloe is driving me nuts._ Rachel had no idea who Chloe was. Her daughter? Was she married to Mike? _Me neither, hang in there_, Rachel texted back. She was relieved that once the phone was on, it functioned like a typical iPhone. She scrolled through her contacts list, noting that she only recognized half the people on it. Her dads were there, and Mrs. Puckerman (her _mother-in-law_; how scary!), Shelby, Beth, all of the glee people from the pictures in their room. No Finn.

She bit her lip and frowned. She couldn't even _call_ him from this future, and she had no idea how to contact him. She suddenly felt very lonely. Luckily, Kurt's name caught her eye, and if she remembered correctly from the Nationals trip, his area code was in Manhattan. She was so relieved he lived nearby!

She pressed his name on her contact list and the phone dialed. She chewed on her thumbnail, willing him to pick up.

"Hel_lo_, dolly!"

"Kurt, thank goodness, I really need to talk to you," she spit out all in one breath.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What's wrong?"

And then Rachel realized she couldn't possibly explain this over the phone. Where would she even start?

"Nothing's wrong. I just need to see you. Can we meet after work tomorrow?" She had no idea what time her job was over, but she didn't feel like venturing into the city tonight. "Four?" she guessed.

Kurt was silent for a moment. "Rach, you're kinda scaring me. We see each other _every_ Friday."

Rachel was taken aback. "We … we do?"

She could practically hear Kurt rolling his eyes. "Every Friday, four-thirty at Sardi's; our usual table. We've only been doing this for oh, ten _years_."

Rachel took a deep breath, thinking quickly. "Right, right, I remember. Don't know what got into me just now."

"Oh my God," Kurt yelped, "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

"What? No!" Rachel bit her lip. Why in the world would he think _that_?

"Oh. Oh, well. Look, I'm about to walk into the theater. I have to go. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, um, bye." Rachel pressed the End button and let out a sigh. That hadn't gone so well. But she'd picked up a few clues. Kurt must be in a show on Broadway if he was going to the theater this early. And meeting at Sardi's meant he had to have some industry connections. Sure, she and Finn had gone there as tourists. But to have a usual table meant they must be insiders. That gave her a little hope that she could still make something of herself on Broadway. Maybe she'd never been in a show, but if Kurt was, it was the least he could do to help her land an audition in this new reality she was experiencing.

Maybe if she fulfilled her dreams here, she'd be able to go home.


	3. Dinner and a Show

This chapter explains why I can't have Rachel telling Puck about the (alleged) time warp … then there would be no Puckleberry sex! Be warned—it's not too explicit, but it happens.

The new FFnet set-up makes it easier than ever to review, so please don't hesitate to let me know what you think!

**Chapter 3: Dinner and a Show**

Rachel heard something clank downstairs and Noah let out a curse. It jolted her out of her daydreams—she'd better go downstairs and try to figure out how in the world she could end up marrying Noah Puckerman.

Noah had dropped a cast-iron frying pan on the floor and he was rubbing his toe as she came into the kitchen. He looked up sheepishly.

"You all right?" she asked.

"You know it." He shrugged it off and put his foot back on the floor as she picked up the pan. "How 'bout you? Feeling better?"

"Much. What are we cooking?"

"Pasta primavera sound good?"

She nodded and went about opening and shutting cabinets, trying at a glance to memorize what was in them.

He stood watching her, arms crossed. "_What_ is going on with you tonight?"

She whirled around, unaware that he'd been watching. "Oh, uh, nothing. Sorry." She spotted a knife rack and turned to the counter where his purchases were laid out. "I'll chop the veggies."

He gave her an odd look and reached over to turn on his iPod that was sitting in a dock on the counter. Neil Diamond blared from the speakers and Rachel smiled involuntarily.

She kept smiling as he began to sing along. If their life together was full of callbacks to high school, she could certainly handle that.

She could _not_ handle him grabbing her hips and swaying them to the music together as she chopped. "Noah," she gasped, wriggling away from him. "I … I'll cut my finger." She held up the knife, proud of herself for how easy it was becoming to think up lies on the spot.

He just shook his head good-naturedly, still singing, and opened a cabinet to retrieve a box of whole wheat angel hair pasta.

She managed to fry the chopped veggies without alerting his suspicions again. She found the olive oil on her first try and managed to work slowly enough that he did most of the work on everything else. He didn't seem to notice.

They sat down to dinner in the small dining room off the kitchen, and Rachel admired the beautiful oak dining set and sage-colored walls. There were no pictures in here for her to marvel at, which was probably a good thing because otherwise she would never be able to concentrate on what she wanted from this dinner conversation.

She had to get some answers about the state of her relationship with Finn.

"So, I need to tell you something."

Noah paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, eyebrows raised.

She couldn't help but take a moment to admire the fact that he was eating vegetables for her. Judging by the foods she'd seen in the refrigerator, he had embraced a vegan lifestyle. Of course, she did see some leftover fried chicken and some beers in there, so she supposed he couldn't be expected to give up his tastes completely.

She got back to concentrating on her mission. "I was thinking about Finn today."

Noah's expression darkened and he furrowed his eyebrows. "You gonna explain that statement?" he huffed.

She was taken aback by his angry tone. That wasn't a good sign. "One of my students reminds me of him." She surprised herself again with how easily the lie rolled off her tongue.

Noah let his fork clatter to his plate and sighed. "Dammit, Rachel. Don't _do_ that."

"Do what?"

"I dunno … the way you're acting tonight, saying you're thinking about him like it's something serious—I just got insecure for a sec, okay?"

Before she could over-think it, Rachel laid a hand on top of his. "It's nothing like that. I hadn't thought about him in a while, and this student of mine …" She trailed off, figuring he could fill in the blank with whatever worked for this reality.

He nodded, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I get it. You're allowed to think about him. But after what happened between you, I would never want you regretting your decision, you know?"

No, she most certainly did _not_ know, but she was going to have to nod anyway. "Can you …" She searched for the right words. "Could you explain what happened between us? I know I chose you for good reason and I don't regret it. But sometimes …" She trailed off again, noticing his clenched teeth.

Luckily, he sighed resignedly and shook his head. "Babe, when you get too in-your-head all crazy like this I know I have to indulge you, but sometimes it sucks, you know that?"

"I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it."

"Yeah, we do, or I'm not gonna be able to eat my dinner."

She let out a chuckle and he smiled ruefully back at her.

"Okay. So. When you and Finn moved out here, you to go to NYADA and him to Pace, you guys were so good for awhile that none of us from glee thought you'd ever break up. We were sure we'd be invited to your wedding any day. But then you got that part in _Cabaret _end of freshman year, and suddenly you were succeeding and getting famous, and he was failing out of everything."

Rachel's chest tightened. She hadn't wanted her fame to come at the expense of Finn's. Though she had to admit, she didn't _really_ think he'd enjoy the Actor's Studio. He'd never shown any inclination toward acting before.

"So when he failed out, he was stuck here taking community college classes, miserable, and resenting you like the whiny motherfucker he was becoming. That was the beginning. He couldn't handle it when you had a million premieres and shows and autographing things to attend, not to mention all your classes and workshops, and he was stuck holding your purse."

Rachel was about to protest; she'd never shove Finn aside like that. But then she realized the part about the purse-holding probably wasn't literal.

"He realized he wasn't happy in New York and didn't fit in. But he didn't want to let you go. So he started acting like a dick, deliberately picking fights with you and trying to get you to break up with him, being too much of a pussy to do it himself."

She grimaced, and he must have interpreted it as a reaction to the coarse language, because he smirked.

"Sorry, Babe, but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. You lived it. You know how miserable you were. He was a pussy, no other word for it. So yeah, when he left to go help Burt run the shop back in Lima, I gotta say no one was surprised. I mean, you'd called Quinn one too many times, sobbing about your crumbling relationship, and we all saw it coming."

Rachel was trying very hard to keep her breathing level, but inside, she was freaking out. There was no way a little thing like her getting famous was going to break up her relationship with Finn. He knew what he was signing up for when he'd proposed. She gestured for Noah to continue, as much as she didn't want to hear it.

"When I followed Shelby and Beth to the city junior year, you were kinda a mess, but it was good we didn't get together right away. You needed time to grow up a little, be on your own, all that good stuff. And I was working my ass off getting my business degree. When we finally got together senior year, it was so worth the wait because we were _ready_."

Rachel's train of thought completely switched gears from mourning the loss of Finn in this reality to being insanely curious about what that year had been like between Noah moving to New York and starting to date him. She still couldn't believe things with Finn could ever get that bad, but then again, this wasn't even real. When she found her way back to the real world (no idea how; she was going to work on that with Kurt tomorrow) she would make sure that didn't happen. In this reality, she was entranced by the loving way the man in front of her was looking at her and dying to know how it had happened. She tried to formulate an appropriate response.

"I know I made the right choice. But I still can't believe Finn turned out to be so …" She smiled sadly, not needing to finish it for both their sakes. "But now let's talk about something happier. Tell me about how you proposed."

He beamed. "I gotta say, my proposal kicks every other proposal's ass ever. Except for maybe guys who hire skywriters."

Rachel giggled. He had become so animated now that they were talking about something happy.

"You got the lead in the _Millie_ revival, and I had just started focusing on Noah's Ark full-time."

The _Millie_ revival could only be _Thoroughly Modern Millie_. And she'd been the lead—how exciting! Looks like she'd had Broadway success after all. So why did she give it up to teach? Too bad this wasn't the right time to ask him.

"I finally had enough dough for a ring and I called everyone for opinions—Quinn, Tina, Mercedes, Kurt and Blaine, even Shelby. I was a nervous wreck."

Rachel glanced down at the ring on her finger. It was breathtaking.

"I finally sucked it up and bought something I thought you'd like. And then I had to go about planning the perfect proposal, but I did that all on my own. Kurt was begging me to tell him what I had in mind, but I didn't say anything."

"I bet you enjoyed that, didn't you?" Rachel couldn't help but interject. Kurt and Noah had never been _friends_, and things couldn't have changed _that_ much in thirteen years.

"Of course." He smiled slyly at her. "But I _was_ nice enough to invite him and Blaine to your show that night so they could witness it firsthand."

Rachel figured they must be the only glee members living in the city. "And then what?" She smiled like she already knew.

"I'd made friends with this florist whose pool I cleaned, and he gave me a great deal on flowers. I flooded your dressing room with them while you were performing, and during the second act, I left a trail of rose petals from the wings right up the stairs to your room."

Rachel tried to picture it, even though she had no idea what the theater really looked like. It seemed romantic, though!

"You did your bows and all, and Kurt and Blaine were waiting backstage with me to congratulate you. And you were all worried, like, 'why are you back here?' You knew the stage manager liked me; I don't know why you were so uptight."

Rachel shrugged. "Well, you know me and rules."

"Yes, I do," he said fondly. "So Kurt and Blaine and I started singing 'Forever Love,' and I spun you around so you'd notice the rose petals. You got all giggly and blushing and followed them, and when you got to your dressing room you shrieked so loud the box office people probably heard you."

She didn't recognize the song "Forever Love;" it must have been a song from between 2012 and 2017. She was dying to know more about it but knew asking would seem too suspicious.

"I stopped singing and got down on one knee and you're already crying, and for about three seconds I'm terrified you're going to say no, because all you're doing is standing there crying, your stage makeup dripping off of you all gross."

Rachel wrinkled her nose. "Why do you remember _that_ detail?"

"It was hard to forget because when you kissed me I got that crap all over my nice suit."

"I'm sure you didn't mind _that_ much," she teased, really touched by his story and kind of wishing Finn's proposal back in the real world had been that elaborate.

"Nah." He smiled at her with so much love that she flinched away a little. It was unnerving to see this side of him, and awkward because she couldn't bring herself to return the look.

"So, thanks for rehashing old memories," she said, trying to change the topic. She didn't want to push her luck with talk of the past. "I needed that. How was your day today?"

He launched into a description of his day, telling her about a new client who'd just put an indoor pool in his mansion and had screwed up the pH balance so badly it was green from end to end.

She tried to listen without letting her worries about her situation take over, and she was surprised to find that she was really enjoying herself talking and laughing and eating with Noah.

After dinner, he grabbed her arm just as she grabbed his plate. "Leave the dishes." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Rachel blushed scarlet.

What was she supposed to do? She could play the tired card again, or just flat out say no.

But then Noah came around the table and stood behind her, trailing kisses down her neck. She turned around and gripped his shoulders, bringing his lips down to hers to taste them eagerly.

She didn't feel right about it, she really didn't, but she'd always enjoyed kissing him, and this wasn't real anyway. It wasn't _cheating_. She wasn't even speaking to Finn in this future, so she knew it couldn't be reality. She deserved to have a little fun after the stressful day she'd had.

All of these excuses swam through her brain quickly, and before she knew it they were pulling at their clothing. Noah sat down in her recently vacated chair and pulled her on top of him. She straddled his lap and realized that this was going to get a lot more heavy than just kissing.

And she also realized she didn't care. The only reason she hadn't slept with him junior year was because he decided he couldn't help her cheat on Finn. And now, they weren't even really cheating. He _owed_ her this.

At least that's what she told herself as she suddenly found herself without a shirt, bra snapped off as well. He was _good_.

He twisted her around so she faced away from him and he could kiss her neck again while he palmed her breasts. Rachel decided she needed to stop coming up with justifications for this and just _do_ it, because any distractions might give away that she'd never actually made love to him before.

She got into the foreplay, reaching around to slide her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. He groaned as she touched him, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of longing for Finn. But she brushed it quickly aside as he thrust against her hand, grinding into her. She let out a squeak, and she could feel him smirking against her back as he continued to kiss her all over.

They went at it for a few more minutes, shedding the rest of their clothes, until she couldn't take it anymore. "Do you have a condom on you?"

To her surprise, he laughed, and it took her out of the moment. She twisted her head around to look at him.

"Babe, when you're _trying_ to get pregnant it's typically not a good idea to use one. I've had some experience with that." He smiled at her, though she could see in his eyes that he thought she was being weird again.

So … apparently it had been completely valid for Kurt jump to the conclusion that she was pregnant. She tried to laugh it off. "This is not my best day, is it?"

"S'okay. Maybe it'll be good luck. You know, like since you mentioned a condom my boys will swim extra hard."

She blanched at that. It had just occurred to her that he could be about to _impregnate _her. Fake reality or not, was that a good idea?

And then he planted a kiss on the back of her head and pushed up into her. She yelped at the new sensation. He misinterpreted it as a sign of pleasure and thrust again, and she leaned forward, clutching the edge of the dining room table.

He felt so different from Finn, better even. She started to relax again. Who would have thought you could have sex like this? She and Finn always did it in bed or on the couch, missionary style. This was so much more exciting!

When he finished, she was nowhere near close, but with her thoughts swirling the way they were she figured it was understandable. She faked it pretty well (she'd had a lot of practice faking it with Finn, so it was nothing new) and disentangled herself from him. She stood before him, trying not to feel self-conscious that she was completely naked in front of him, because obviously his _wife_ wouldn't be uncomfortable about that. And then she looked at him, smiling up at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She took in the rest of him, realizing that she'd just had sex with someone she'd never even seen naked until this moment. She tried not to stare too long, but the damage was done—she was blushing like crazy.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her lips. "Think we just made a baby?"

She looked into his shining eyes and melted. What could she say to this wonderful man except …

"I hope so."


	4. St Regis

**Chapter 4: St. Regis**

After they cleaned up the kitchen and watched _American Idol_ (she could not _believe_ it was still on, and Randy was _still there_), Noah went to take a shower, so she curled up in bed and reached for the Kindle on her nightstand. It took her a moment to figure out how to work it, but once she did, she saw that the book she was in the middle of was a new memoir by Barbra Streisand, and she scanned the table of contents, excited to see what her idol had been up to in the past few years.

She was so engrossed in the book she barely looked up when Noah returned and climbed into bed next to her. She decided she was too tired to shower, so she leaned over to kiss him good night, figuring that was standard wife/husband practice. She turned off the Kindle and snuggled under the covers, wondering if she fell asleep in this reality whether she would wake up in hers.

The next morning, her alarm beeped at 6:00, she opened her eyes, and then bolted upright in bed. This wasn't her room! Where was she? Whose leg was pressed up next to hers? She glanced wildly around and her gaze landed on Noah, sleeping peacefully next to her.

Oh, my God. Oh my _God_. She was still in this alternate reality future. She fumbled her alarm clock off, unable to take her eyes off of Noah. She'd been so colossally stupid. She'd chosen to have sex with him last night instead of trying to figure out how to get home to Finn. Sweet, funny, kind Finn who loved her.

But this version of Noah loved her, too. And she really had no idea how to get back to her reality. She would have to ask Kurt for help later today, but for now, she was kind of enjoying being the 31-year-old wife of the most gorgeous guy at McKinley. It was how she'd felt when they dated sophomore year, only better.

She found herself wanting to know everything about her life here. She wanted to meet Beth at age 15. She wanted to go teach classes at St. Regis and see if she would ever want to teach someday. She wanted to see what Kurt was like, if he was still with Blaine, if he really had achieved his Broadway dreams. She wanted to know why Tina was complaining to her about a girl named Chloe.

Noah opened his eyes and caught her staring at him, sorting through all of this in her head.

"Morning," he grunted, and sat up next to her.

She couldn't help but admire his shirtless form yet again, and he cocked his head and stared right back at her. "What?"

"I think …" Rachel couldn't believe she was about to do this, but she didn't know how many more chances she'd have. Especially if Kurt helped her get back home this afternoon. "I think I'm going to skip my elliptical workout this morning and opt for an even better method of burning calories." She repeated his eyebrow-wiggling move from the night before and he laughed, wrapping his hands around her shoulders and shoving her back against the pillows. He rolled on top of her and covered her face with butterfly kisses as she shriek-giggled.

Yes, _much_ better than the elliptical.

By the time Noah's own alarm went off, at 7:00, she was practically delirious with happiness. If her real life at 31 was half this good, she'd be one lucky girl. After pulling on a button-down shirt and jeans, he climbed back over her on the bed, pinning her wrists and kissing her softly. She was turned on all over again. "Have a good day, Babe. Love you."

"Love you too," she murmured, looking up at him and smiling as he crawled back off the bed and headed toward the bathroom. She heard the water running for all of thirty seconds, heard him gargling mouthwash, and then he was bounding down the stairs.

She didn't know what time she was supposed to be at St. Regis, but it was probably soon. The brochure had said the school day was 8:30 to 3, so she took the fastest shower of her life and shook out her damp hair, lamenting the lack of time for blowing it dry. At least it was short enough that she could get away with not styling it. She took the stairs two a time, grabbing a banana from the kitchen and darting out the door, purse swinging from her elbow. She hoped everything she'd need to teach would be in her classroom.

She had no idea what her typical mode of transportation to work would be, but she did know that Brooklyn wasn't exactly near the Upper East Side. If she had a car she had no idea where it was or where its keys might be. She thanked her lucky stars that an empty cab was whizzing by as she shut the door to the brownstone. She chased the car for half a block before it stopped. She gave the cabbie St. Regis's address and leaned back against the seat, drumming her fingers on her knee. This was going to be interesting.

It was 8:15 when she arrived at the school. She scanned the mailboxes in the main office, seeing her classroom number next to her name. _Phew!_ She gathered the papers and swipe card in her mailbox and quickly studied the fire exits map by the office door. The school wasn't that big, so she'd be able to find her room easily. She nodded hello to teachers in the halls who addressed her directly, but tried to keep her head down and concentrate on getting to her destination.

The choir room was eerily similar to McKinley's, and she felt a twinge of homesickness as she looked around the room. She spotted her desk, dumped her mail on top of it, and began opening drawers. There was a folder labeled "Sub Plans" that she cracked open, holding her breath.

She let it out in a whoosh. It was all there. Daily schedules, assignments, seating charts, instructions for ordering lunch, the bell schedule. She tuned out the national anthem and the announcements as she read feverishly.

The bell rang to signal the end of homeroom just as she finished looking through all of the materials. Kids began trickling into the room, smiling and waving at her as they entered. She gritted her teeth and tried her best to smile back. What had she gotten herself into?

When the second bell rang, she looked at a sea of preteen faces staring eagerly at her. She estimated there were about twenty kids in the class. She took attendance quickly by seeing which seats were empty. She couldn't risk mispronouncing a name by saying them aloud.

"Good morning, everybody. How's everyone this fine Friday?" She called upon all of her acting skills to disguise her nerves. How could the future her ever want to do this voluntarily?

"Come on Mrs. Puckerman, just tell us … can we sing it or not? You told us you would decide by today."

Rachel flinched at being called Mrs. Puckerman. That was an odd feeling. She must only use that name for school. Her driver's license still said Berry.

But to be honest, she kind of liked being called that. It made it easier to pretend that this was a part she was playing. She could play Mrs. Puckerman for a day until she figured out how to get home.

Now she had to answer the kid's question. Sing _what_? "Well … okay. Yes, you may." She hoped she wouldn't regret this.

The kid stood up and a few others followed suit. They assembled in the front of the room, and Rachel took one of the empty seats. This was familiar. Maybe teaching choir was just like having glee rehearsal all day, every day. _That_ sounded great.

The kids launched into a fantastic a capella version of _Rent_'s "La Vie Boheme." Now she understood. This wasn't exactly middle school–appropriate. But the kids were beaming, and everyone in class was clapping along. She sat back and relaxed, letting her mind fill with not-so-distant memories of her own time in glee club. She pictured Finn's smiling face and suppressed a groan. She _had _to get back to him. Playacting with Noah was all fine, but she needed to get back to _her_ reality. No one should have to be stuck going from 18 to 31 overnight, living a life she didn't choose.

After the kids finished, she applauded along with everyone else. She knew that as a music teacher, it was probably her job to give notes, and there were certainly lots of critiques she could make. But when she saw their expectant faces turned toward her, all she could do was smile at them and tell them what a good job they'd done. "In fact, you guys were so good, let's spend the rest of the period doing some freestyling. Who has another song suggestion?"

All twenty hands shot up. She liked how enthusiastic these kids were. The lesson plans talked about doing songs in units, like Mr. Schue had, but she didn't feel like following the plans today. She wanted to see what these kids could come up with on their own.

She heard from as many people as they had time for. A few kids grabbed guitars from the back of the room and accompanied the singers, and she heard beautiful renditions of songs they'd done in glee: "Lucky," "Home," even "We Are Young." And she heard some new songs, too: a ballad from Kelly Clarkson she'd never heard before, stuff from U2 that was brand new to her, and even a song from some new band called Weasel Eyes that she really liked.

By the time the bell rang she didn't want to let these kids go. She'd probably never see them again after this. But then a new crop of kids came in for second period, and she fell in love with them, too. They were all there because they loved to sing, and it showed. This class didn't have anything like "La Vie Boheme" prepared, so she started class off with the suggestion of freestyling, and they all cheered.

By lunchtime she was exhausted but happy, and as she sat eating a salad from the cafeteria and drinking a bottle of soy milk she'd found in the faculty lounge refrigerator with her name on it, she rifled through the papers in her desk, looking for more clues about this life.

There were some cards from students; rubber bands, paper clips, and other supplies; and an emergency contacts list. She scanned that and when she saw "Corcoran, S.—Room 5A/ext. 152", she almost dropped her soy milk. _Shelby_ taught here? It had to be her. Noah had mentioned something last night about following Shelby and Beth to New York. Maybe Shelby had been the one to get Rachel the teaching job.

She enjoyed herself with the rest of the day's students, but half of her thoughts were on Shelby and what it would be like to see her again. She finally decided she had to take every opportunity she could in this future, if only to ensure she didn't make the same mistakes in the real world.

So after classes ended she went to find Room 5A. After wandering the halls for almost twenty minutes she ran into a janitor scraping gum off of a locker.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but could you tell me where Room 5A is?"

The janitor made a face. "You're in the wrong building, Mrs. Puckerman."

Rachel blushed. It figured she knew everyone at this school. The janitor didn't have a nametag, so she couldn't pretend to know her. "I must have gotten confused." She paused, then decided she couldn't afford to go it alone. "And where's the other building?"

The janitor wiped her brow, looking exasperated. "Room 5A is in the high school across the street. Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, no, and I'm very sorry to have bothered you." Rachel curtsied awkwardly and ran away from the janitor as fast as she could. She exited the building where she'd come in that morning and looked across the street. Sure enough, St. Regis Academy Secondary School was right there.

She used the swipe card she'd stuffed in her purse to open the main door. She'd forgotten to return to the main office after classes, and she hoped nothing important was in her mailbox or that she had to sign out or something. Luckily, the door swung open and she stepped inside.

It was similar in layout to her building, so she found 5A in no time. Shelby was at her desk, rifling through some papers.

"Hi Shelby," she greeted her mother warmly, figuring they were on good terms since a picture of them together was in her house.

"Hey, Rach." Shelby looked up from the pile of papers and rose to give Rachel a hug.

"Thanks again for taking Beth for the weekend. I'm trying to do all this last-minute organizing for our Nationals trip and I really will need the time to rehearse with them tomorrow. I know it's not your typical schedule with her but Noah assured me you didn't mind."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. Beth was staying with them this weekend? Well, she _had_ wanted to see what Beth was like. But _all_ weekend? She wondered what the "typical schedule" was. And wait a second, Beth wasn't in show choir? Rachel knew she couldn't burden Shelby with these questions right now, even though she was dying to know details. All she said was, "Of course. We're happy to help."

Shelby smiled, but she looked distracted. Rachel decided she wouldn't bother her any longer. She knew exactly what frame of mind Shelby was in—and she wondered when Nationals were. If they were next week, Shelby really would need all weekend to prepare.

"Well, I'm heading home." Something occurred to her. "Is Noah picking her up, or … ?" She didn't want to assume Beth was a St. Regis student, but maybe she was supposed to be coming home with Rachel, because Shelby hadn't seemed surprised Rachel came to her classroom.

Shelby nodded. "He'll get her after softball practice tonight."

"Okay. Well, good luck with rehearsal. See you later." Rachel backed toward the door, trying to memorize Shelby's face. She had some gray in her hair and her features were more pinched, but she still had sparkling eyes and those strong cheekbones. Rachel knew that in her real life, she might never see Shelby again. She hadn't laid eyes on her since she took off after Sectionals. So Rachel wanted a memory of what she looked like older, just to keep to herself in case this was the last time she would ever see her.

"Thanks, Hon. See you later." Shelby smiled and then turned her attention back to her work.

Rachel shut the choir room door behind her and leaned against it; chest heaving, trying not to cry as the significance of what she was about to do hit her. She was about to meet Kurt and possibly go home, but part of her didn't want to yet. She _liked_ it here. And there was still so much she wanted to know. But she needed Kurt's help to go home.

If he couldn't help her, who could?


	5. Confiding in Kurt

**Chapter 5: Confiding in Kurt**

Rachel looked around Sardi's, glad that it was the same as she remembered. She greeted the hostess, who replied with a "Right this way, Ms. Berry," and a shiver of excitement ran through her. She was a Sardi's _regular_!

The hostess led the way to a table near the back, and when 31-year-old Kurt came into view, Rachel let out a gasp. He looked exactly the same.

Kurt stood to kiss her hello and she continued to gape at him. It seemed like his strict skin care regimen really did work wonders!

"All right, you have to tell me what is going on with you." He smiled, shaking his head. "You're acting crazier than usual."

Rachel did her best to stop staring, and decided it was now or never. "Kurt, you've got to help me. Yesterday afternoon I was at graduation, and the next thing I knew I was falling through a black hole or something, and I ended up in front of some Brooklyn townhouse. And I'm married to Puck and teaching at a middle school and apparently Finn and I are no longer speaking. I need to get back to 2012. I'm about to graduate!"

She hadn't thought about it until now, but what if 2012 life was going on without her? What if she was missing everything? What if her 31-year-old self was getting to experience it somehow instead?

She took a deep breath. Thinking about all of this was counterproductive. She had to concentrate on convincing Kurt she was telling the truth, because he was currently doubled over, laughing at her.

The waitress appeared, and Kurt ordered, laughter subsiding. Rachel turned to him with pleading eyes. "What's my usual?"

"Stop playing around," Kurt chided.

"I'm not playing. I really don't know what 2025 me would order." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the waitress stifle a giggle, but she was more concerned with Kurt's reaction.

"Please?"

Kurt shook his head. "I'm not gonna order for you. You're even more nuts than I thought."

"Fine." Rachel wasn't hungry anyway. "Just an unsweetened iced tea."

The waitress didn't even try to hide her disappointment as she walked away. Rachel was going to have to give her a big tip.

Kurt sat back, studying her. "Is this some kind of acting exercise?"

"No!" How could she convince him? "I'm telling you, one moment I was at McKinley and the next I was in Brooklyn. I've had so many strange experiences in the last twenty-four hours I don't even know where to start."

"What did Noah say about all this?"

She didn't miss the fact that Kurt had called him Noah, but decided to leave it alone. "I haven't told him. I walked into the house and he assumed I was his wife, so I played along."

"Did you go to work today?"

"Yes. I did the best I could. I may have unintentionally insulted a janitor, but other than that, no one seems to suspect anything."

Kurt sighed. "All right, this is getting old. What is really going on?"

Rachel could tell there was no convincing him. "Will you just humor me?"

He made a face. "Fine. So you were at our high school graduation, and got sent here. Why would that randomly happen?"

"I have no idea. But I'm starting to think it has something to do with me not making the same mistakes back in my reality. I can't believe I'm not speaking to Finn, and maybe somehow this is a test—if I can survive here without him, I deserve to be with him in my reality."

"You don't even realize how colossally stupid that sounds, do you?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Kurt! Humor me!"

He sighed again. "You were in love with Finn for a long time. But once you got to New York, your priorities changed. You each wanted different things, so you went your separate ways."

Rachel still could not fathom giving up on their relationship. "Noah told me the breakup was messy, that Finn turned into some sort of monster and pushed me away."

Kurt shifted in his chair, obviously uncomfortable. "Look, Finn is still my brother, so I'm not going to get in the middle of this, just like I didn't ten years ago. But yeah, I think Finn checked out of the relationship before you did. And when you reconnected with Noah, you realized you two were a much better fit. Noah could handle being your boyfriend as you got more well-known here."

"Is that why I gave up Broadway? Noah said I was in _Thoroughly Modern Millie_. Did I quit the show to marry him and play housewife?" The thought turned her stomach.

"What? Rachel, puh-lease." Kurt stared at her, still trying to figure her out. She stared right back, willing him to believe.

He sat back in his chair again and folded his arms across his chest, expression giving nothing away. "What was Blaine wearing at graduation?"

"Blaine?" Rachel was startled by the abrupt topic change. "Um, I think it was a pinstriped suit and a black bow tie. How is that relevant?"

"I was just looking at pictures from graduation the other day, and it's strange that you remember something like that from so long ago."

"That's what I've been _telling_ you. For me, it was _yesterday_."

Kurt looked at her for a long time. "Maybe you _are_ telling the truth," he finally said.

"Yes!" Rachel cried out, and leaned across the table to hug him. "I promise I am. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm Rachel from high school. And I somehow ended up here, and I want to know _everything_. Am I still friends with Blaine?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course. Last week we all went to Beth's softball game."

"So you two are still together?"

Kurt held up his left hand, and sure enough, there was a wedding band on it.

The waitress delivered Kurt's food and Rachel's drink, lingering a little longer than prudent as Rachel took Kurt's hand and admired the ring. Kurt thanked the waitress firmly and she left, taking the hint.

"Is gay marriage legal now?" Rachel asked.

"In all fifty states," Kurt said, smiling.

"I'm so glad! And hey, on the phone yesterday you said something about a theater. Are you in a show?"

Kurt wiggled his shoulders coyly. "We-ell, I don't want to brag, but I'm the lead in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It's fantastic. If you're still here on Monday I can get you and Noah tickets. I'm going to Niagara Falls for a little anniversary trip with Blaine this weekend."

"Oh, Kurt! Congratulations!" Rachel hugged him again. "And what's Blaine doing?"

"He opened a jazz club with one of our friends from college and he performs there almost every night. It's a really popular spot with all ages, so he does really well. Sometimes you and I and Noah join him on stage, too."

He sounded so proud of his husband and Rachel longed to see both of her friends in action. But if they were going to be away all weekend, what _were_ the odds of her being here on Monday? She had no idea. And then she realized she'd never gotten an answer to her earlier question. "Hey, why did I leave _Millie_, Kurt?"

"You didn't. It closed after two years and you got offered a part in _Sister Act_. You took it, and did that for about a year, going on auditions during the day and performing at night."

"And I married Noah during that time?"

"Yeah. And it's a testament to how strong your relationship was at that point that you guys even made it—you barely saw each other that year."

"Wow."

"And then when the audition for _Wicked_ came along, of course you got the part."

"I didn't play …" Rachel sucked in a breath.

"Yup, you were Elphaba." He beamed at her, and she realized she'd won him over. He truly believed she didn't know about any of the things 2025 Rachel had done.

"I was Elphaba," she repeated in awe. She hoped that _this_ part of her alternate future would come true!

"For almost four years. But then you and Noah decided you wanted to start a family, and you couldn't do that on your crazy schedule. So you left the show and Shelby got you an in at St. Regis—"

"I knew it!" Rachel interrupted. "Sorry, continue."

"You wanted to be settled into the job before you and Noah starting thinking about having kids, so for the last two years you've been teaching and you love it. Did you like doing it today?"

"Surprisingly, I really did. The kids were great."

"Well, from the stories you've told me, or I guess 'future you' told me, they're not _always_ so great," Kurt chuckled.

Rachel took a moment to digest all she'd heard. Overall, except for the absence of Finn, this life was even more amazing than she'd realized. "I wonder if this is what I'll really want from my life when I'm 31. A house, kids, teaching …" she trailed off, not wanting to add "Noah" to that list. That was something she still didn't want to think too much about.

"And you're going back to Broadway eventually. Matt and Trey want you for a new show they're developing, but it's in such early stages your potential kid will probably be in kindergarten before it gets off the ground."

_Wow. _Someone was requesting her for a show that wasn't written yet. That's when you know you've made it! "Who are Matt and Trey?"

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Stone and Parker. You've only been to their office a million times." He paused, realizing. "Oh, right, this you hasn't met them yet."

"So is it in the same vein as _Book of Mormon_, the show they're developing?" She couldn't imagine being a part of such raunchy fare, but from what she'd heard, any actress worth her salt would sign up with them in a heartbeat.

Kurt shrugged. "Only you know the details. It's all very hush-hush."

_Hmm_. She didn't actually know, and she hadn't seen anything about it in her filing cabinet or on her phone. "Anything else important happen to me since 2012?"

Kurt thought for a moment. "Well, you and Noah have done a lot of traveling."

"I saw that from the pictures around our house. I'm glad we both got to see the world." She was wistful for a past she hadn't even experienced yet, which was silly … there was no reason she and Finn couldn't go to all of those places. "What about my dads? Still in Lima?"

"Yeah, and you talk to them a lot."

Rachel remembered something that had been nagging at her for a while. "And who's Chloe?"

"I guess you mean Tina's daughter?"

"Aw, I was hoping that's who she was! Are Tina and Mike married?"

Kurt shook his head. "No. But she married a really nice guy from Baltimore. They live there now and Tina has some sort of government job."

"So are we friends with everyone from glee?"

"Mostly. Artie's up in Toronto working for a film company there. Quinn's a social worker in Boston. Mike's a famous choreographer in Hollywood. We see Mercedes and Sam the most because they're always flying back and forth from New York to L.A."

"Why?"

Kurt just smiled and pulled out his phone. He touched his thumb to the corner and it turned on, and it was only then that Rachel realized that's why hers had turned on—these new phones must be fingerprint-locked. He pressed a few things and suddenly Mercedes's voice rang out from the speaker. "This is from her second CD. Our girl has three Grammys." He beamed with pride.

"How wonderful!" Rachel gushed. She was truly happy that Mercedes had made it. "And Sam? They're together?"

"He's her man … ager. Get it—_man_ager?"

She arched her eyebrows.

"_I_ thought it was funny."

"Cute." Rachel rolled her eyes, and they both laughed.

Kurt turned off Mercedes's song and pulled up Facebook. "Here, I can show you everyone."

Rachel hadn't even thought about going on Facebook. "Perfect!"

For the next half hour they read through everyone's pages together in between sharing Kurt's dinner, because Rachel had suddenly realized she was hungry after all. She didn't post much on her own page, at least nothing particularly interesting, but she was elated at seeing pictures of Chloe, and of Quinn's kids, and of Mr. Schue's. His kids were by far the most beautiful children she'd ever seen. They had Ms. Pillsbury's large eyes and his hair, giving them distinctly cherubic looks. She wanted to pull up Finn's page but thought better of it, knowing it was an off-limits topic with Kurt. She'd have to look him up later. But she did sneak a peek at Noah's page, which was full of sweet, sappy comments to Rachel and talk about sports with his guy friends, many of whom she didn't recognize. They even looked up Brittany and Santana, and they weren't together, but they each seemed happy. Rachel wasn't that surprised that she hadn't kept in touch with them, but they were her Facebook friends, so that meant everyone was on good terms.

"So, now that you're all caught up …" Kurt looked at her expectantly. "What are you going to do?"

"I honestly don't know. I've been going through the motions of life here but since I have no idea how I got here in the first place, it's hard to look for clues."

"In all seriousness, have you tried clicking your heels?" Kurt asked with a half-smile.

Rachel stood up and immediately began reciting "There's no place like home" while clicking her heels together. Hey, anything was worth a try!

But she found herself relieved when (no surprise) it didn't work.

"Maybe it really is some sort of glimpse into the future, and the universe wants you to figure something out that can help you," he suggested.

"So until I have this epiphany, whatever it is, you think I should continue to play along?"

"Sure, why not?"

Rachel was about to protest when she remembered she agreed with him. "You're right. I'm enjoying life here. With one exception, I want my life to turn out like this."

Kurt put a hand over hers on the table. "I know it's hard to accept, because you love him so much, but I promise you, it's for the best that you and Finn broke up. He was stifling you, and Noah lets you be yourself. He's a good husband to you."

Rachel took his hand and squeezed it. "I know he is. I can see that from one night with him." She tried not to think about a certain aspect of their time together and failed, and her expression betrayed her.

"You guys totally did it!" Kurt crowed.

Rachel blushed. "I … I have no excuse." She hung her head, but then looked up at him and smiled, not even wanting to pretend she was ashamed. He smiled back, but thankfully didn't seem to want to hear details.

But she did need his opinion on something. "Do you think if I got pregnant in this body it would transfer to my 18-year-old self when I go home?"

Kurt's mouth dropped open. "No idea. But I don't see how it could."

"Okay, good. I was a little worried about it, but that's what I figured. This whole thing is so impossible to begin with."

Kurt shook his head. "I can't believe we're sitting here talking about traveling between bodies and alternate dimensions!"

"That's exactly why I can't seem to bring myself to tell anyone! It's too much."

"Well, I'm glad you told _me_. And whatever this thing you're going through is, it'll work out. Rachel Berry always lands on her feet, in any reality."


	6. Beth

**Chapter 6: Beth**

Kurt had to head home to leave for Niagara Falls, so she wished him a safe trip and he told her to feel free to call or text if she needed anything. As they hugged, Rachel got the feeling this would be last time she'd see 31-year-old Kurt, but she could be wrong. For all she knew, she'd be seeing his show on Monday night.

She'd decided to take the subway home and try out the MetroCard she'd found in her wallet. Kurt pointed her toward the 42nd Street station near Bryant Park and he waved as she descended the stairs. Once in the station, she turned on her phone so she could figure out which train to take. Kurt had offered to direct her but she wanted to do this on her own.

She opened the maps app on the home screen and to her delight, she only had to click on "Go Home" to be given a list of ways to get there from her current location. She picked "Public Transit" and it told her to take the D train toward Brooklyn. She boarded the next train that came along, trying to memorize the map on the train's wall that contained all of the stops. She was supposed to get off at Union Street.

One crowded train ride later, she emerged from the Union Street station relieved to see familiar surroundings. She turned onto President Street, proud of herself for navigating the New York City subway system all by herself.

At her house, she pulled out her palm tree keychain and smiled down at it. It was so strange that she was actually comfortable here now. It was almost like she really had been coming home to this place for the last eight years.

Inside she could hear laughter from the kitchen, and she followed the noise to find Noah and Beth sitting on stools at the island counter, giggling over their Chinese takeout.

She froze when she saw Beth. The girl was even more beautiful than in the pictures. She had Quinn's coloring and complexion, but Noah's eyes and bone structure. Rachel wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around her.

Beth answered the question for her by jumping off of her stool the minute Rachel entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Rach!" she greeted her enthusiastically, throwing her arms around Rachel in a tight hug. Rachel returned it, feeling a wave of affection for this girl she'd never met.

"Hi, Beth!" Rachel tried to muster up the same level of enthusiasm.

Beth backed off so Noah could kiss her hello. She let herself get swept up in him for just a moment. "Hi, Babe," she said without thinking.

He kissed her again and led her over to the counter, where Beth was settling back onto her stool. He pulled up a stool for Rachel and she sank into it, suddenly exhausted.

"How was your day?" Noah asked, laying a hand on her back as she put her purse down on the counter and stretched out her arms, trying not to yawn.

"Good, but long. Yours?"

"Good," he nodded. "Watched Beth's practice for awhile. She really should quit. It's not fair to the other players."

"Da-ad," Beth whined. "I'm not _that_ good." They smiled at each other, and Rachel looked back and forth between them. As weird as it was to hear Noah being called "Dad," somehow it fit. They obviously had a strong bond, and Rachel was happy about that.

"How is softball?" Rachel asked Beth, hoping she'd gotten the sport right. She thought that's what Shelby and Kurt had said she played.

"S'good. After this weekend there are only three games left."

So there was a game this weekend? Rachel glanced at the cabinet calendar. Sure enough, _Beth's game 1:00_ was written in red marker on this Sunday.

"Wow." Rachel wasn't sure what else to say. Noah saved her by asking if she was hungry.

"A little. I didn't eat much at Sardi's. What have you got?"

Noah and Beth shuffled the containers, and she realized they were looking for vegetarian options. They were both so sweet! Noah handed her a box of chow mein and what was left of the rice. "You can pick the chicken out," he said apologetically.

Rachel smiled at him, touched that he cared so much. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks. This is great." She grabbed the extra chopsticks from the counter and dug in, careful to avoid the chicken chunks.

"I stopped to see your mom today," Rachel said to Beth between bites. "She seemed really stressed."

Beth nodded as she popped an eggroll into her mouth. "Mm-hmm. I dunno how you choir people do it. All that competition stuff is just nuts."

Noah laughed. "You compete every day. Sports are even worse!"

Beth shook her head. "Nuh-uh. You were at Nationals last year. You saw how crazed it was. And you guys went through it—twice."

Rachel smiled at Noah. This was something she felt completely comfortable with: her show choir past (though it was in the much-less-distant past than her dinner mates thought). Noah smiled too, clearly thinking back to high school.

"Sure it was stressful, but we had a lot of fun times to help us deal with the competitive side of it," Rachel explained. Beth didn't look convinced.

"Yeah. I mean, remember that first year's Sectionals, when Sue leaked our set list and you had to bust out your go-to song?" Noah said.

Of course she did.

"What happened?" Beth asked.

"Oh come on, you remember that story," Rachel said, hoping that was true.

Beth shook her head. "Tell me."

Rachel motioned to Noah as she chewed. "You tell it." She wanted to hear about high school from Noah's perspective. It would be a nice clue to figure out how the boy she knew became the man next to her.

Noah launched into the story, with Rachel adding things here and there. Beth wanted to know more, so they reminisced for quite awhile, talking about the first Nationals in New York, Rachel's confrontation with Sunshine Corazon, teaching the football team to dance, Acafellas, everything.

After finishing dinner Beth suggested a round of poker in the living room. Rachel declined, figuring 2025 Rachel was supposed to know how to play, but 2012 Rachel didn't. She curled up on the couch with a legal pad she'd found in a kitchen drawer, pretending to be working on ideas for her class. She watched Beth and Noah playing around the coffee table, trying to learn the rules as they went along, but it wasn't easy. And it definitely seemed like Beth and Noah had their own set of rules they played to, which threw her off even more. But despite feeling a little lost, she didn't feel left out. Noah would smile over at her every once in a while when he caught her looking at them, and she would pretend to go back to scribbling on the pad. But it gave her a warm feeling inside every time he looked at her.

If this was what a marriage was, she couldn't wait to share the experience with Finn. But for now, she was having a lovely time hanging out with the Puckerman family in Brooklyn.

After the poker game died down (they'd played for M&M's, and Beth was stuffing handfuls into her mouth gleefully), Rachel suggested a movie. She'd been discreetly scanning their six-levels-high shelf of Blu-rays, and it amused her to see _Carousel _filed next to _Die Hard_, and other strange combinations of her and Noah's disparate tastes. Beth jumped up and began scanning the shelves herself. "Got anything new?"

Noah stood as well, popping the last of his own M&M's into his mouth. He'd offered Rachel some but she'd declined. Guess she was eating chocolate in this future. Not that she'd deprived herself before, but she tried not to indulge very often.

"Yeah, we haven't watched the new _Bourne_ yet. Was waiting for you," Noah replied.

Rachel wrinkled her nose. Bourne, as in _The Bourne Identity_? That wasn't really her cup of tea. But then she noticed from the Blu-ray box that Taylor Lautner was on the cover. "The _Twilight_ guy is in this?" she blurted out.

Beth and Noah both turned to stare at her, disc dangling from Beth's finger. "Um, Rach, this is his third one," Beth reminded her, tilting her head.

"Oh." Rachel blushed, realizing she'd made a huge mistake in opening her mouth. "I forgot."

"Besides," Noah added, "_Twilight_ was forever ago. He's got street cred now. He took over the role from Renner what, like five years ago, and even _I_ have no problem admitting how badass the dude is."

"Yeah, totally," Beth agreed.

Rachel had no idea what they were talking about, so all she said was, "Go ahead and put it on."

Beth loaded the disc and turned on the TV as Noah came over to sit next to Rachel, putting an arm around her. "You all right, Baby?"

Rachel settled herself against him and sighed. "Yes. I know I've been acting weird these past couple of days. I'm just having an off week, I guess."

Beth was still fiddling with the controls, standing in front of the TV. Noah leaned down and whispered, "Do you think maybe you could be pregnant?"

He looked so hopeful that she almost wanted to say yes. But there was no telling how long she'd be stuck here and she refused to fake a pregnancy. Faking a marriage was bad enough. Although, for all she knew, this version of her _could_ be pregnant. "It's too early to tell," she whispered in reply, figuring that was vague enough.

"Yeah. Guess you're right. Let's wait another four days and see if your you-know-what comes." He glanced up at Beth, but she didn't seem to have heard.

It was utterly ridiculous that she was sitting here cuddled up with Noah Puckerman, talking about her menstrual cycle with him. This wasn't the future, this was the Twilight Zone.

"How long have we been trying?" she asked, hoping to sound like she wanted confirmation, not like she didn't already know.

He cocked his head, thinking. "Um, three months, I guess."

She let out a sigh. "Well, that's not that long. It'll happen." She patted his leg.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Beth whined as she came over to sit next to them on the couch.

Noah spread the blanket over all three of them and put his other arm around Beth. "Just how lucky I am to have my girls with me," he said, shooting Beth a sappy grin.

"Da-ad," she groaned, but she was smiling.

Noah kissed Rachel quickly as the movie started. "Know this isn't really your thing, Babe. Thanks for pretending to care."

"Actually, I want to see this. I don't really remember the other movies," Rachel replied, and that wasn't exactly a lie, since she couldn't remember something she hadn't seen.

Noah just shook his head and hugged her more tightly to him.

Rachel couldn't say she enjoyed the movie, but it was entertaining enough, and she liked watching Noah and Beth's reactions to the car chases and explosions. They were really into it.

She was surprised at how easy it was to get along with Beth. Seeing the bond she had with Noah helped, but Rachel really could understand how their weird little family worked. She wondered if they spent a lot of time with Shelby or if it was more like a divorced custody arrangement, where Noah had his special time with Beth and Shelby had her the rest of the time. These were all things she couldn't ask unless she wanted to sound stupid again, and she really didn't like feeling out of the loop.

The movie ended and everyone stood up and stretched. It was late, so Beth kissed them both good night. Rachel hugged her tightly, knowing she could wake up tomorrow and be back in high school. She was so happy for 2012 Noah that his relationship with his daughter was going to be just fine. Of course, she had no way of knowing if this particular fact would come true in the real future or if it was part of the alternate reality, so maybe in her timeline Beth and Noah would never find each other again.

But she couldn't believe that. She had to believe, for Noah's sake, that everything would work out. She'd make it work with Finn, Noah would still come to the city, and they'd all live happily ever after.

Her head was hurting from all of the thoughts of alternate realities. No wonder people in time travel movies were always confused.

Rachel and Noah followed Beth upstairs, and she went to their room while Noah headed to the shower. She figured that was the routine—Noah had the bathroom first and Rachel read while she waited.

She picked up her Kindle and got lost in the Barbra book again. After her turn in the bathroom, she climbed into bed next to Noah, who looked like he was already falling asleep. "You want to?" he asked, and it took her a moment to understand what he was asking. She had her out—they were both tired. As much as she wanted to make love to him again, she declined. No use pushing her luck with the pregnancy thing; it was just too risky.

"Not tonight, okay?"

"Okay." He snuggled closer and kissed her gently. She kissed him back, enjoying the intimate moment.

They faced each other with their heads on their pillows, holding hands. "Love you," Noah murmured, drifting off to sleep.

"You, too," Rachel whispered, and before she closed her own eyes she stared at Noah's peaceful face for a long time, wondering whether, if they'd stayed together sophomore year, this really could have been their future.


	7. Family Bonding

**Chapter 7: Family Bonding **

Rachel's alarm went off at 6:00 the next morning, and she rolled over to shut it off, realizing she was still in Brooklyn. She was mildly disappointed, but knew that she couldn't really complain—she got to spend another day with Noah and Beth. And as much as she worried about life in 2012 Lima going on without her, there was no way to get back there that she knew of, so she had to suck it up and go along for the ride. It wasn't a feeling she had often, but there was something freeing about the precarious nature of her life at the moment. She had to make every moment in this future count, if for no other reason than to keep it intact for when 2025 Rachel returned. If there even was a 2025 Rachel. Maybe everyone in this future would disappear once she left. Who knew?

Noah's arm was draped across her stomach and she lifted it gingerly so she could leave the bed. He stirred but didn't wake up, so she figured she'd let him sleep.

She headed to the spare room and hopped on the elliptical, not bothering to make a protein shake first because it would take too long to find the ingredients in the still-unfamiliar kitchen.

After her workout, she listened for any indication that someone else had gotten up, but Beth's bedroom door was shut and Noah was still spread out across their bed.

She showered quickly and then went downstairs, deciding she'd surprise her newfound family with pancakes. She bustled around the kitchen looking for ingredients, and even found vegan mix in the back of one of the cabinets. She made the regular batch first, hoping the smell would wake them up. Her plan worked, and soon Noah and Beth came padding into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Rachel stifled a smile at their identical mannerisms. They even scratched their necks in the same way.

"Good morning," she said brightly, and directed them to the dining room, where she'd laid out the pancake breakfast.

They both thanked her and made a fuss over how good the pancakes were as she chewed her own batch proudly. There was nothing to this domestic stuff. She'd be a great wife, she just knew it.

Since it was such a nice day they decided to head to the beach. They drove out to Fire Island. Rachel hadn't even realized they had a car, but it made sense that Noah would need it for work—his truck was parked on the street near their house. She'd had no reason to assume it was Noah's, since it was a different model than the one he'd driven in high school.

They rented bikes on the way into the park, and rode around for a few hours, enjoying themselves. Rachel couldn't remember the last time she'd been on a bike—Finn's tall, uncoordinated frame didn't really mix well with bike riding.

"Look Ma, no hands!" Beth cried out to Rachel as she whizzed by, hands in the air. Rachel knew that it was just a saying and that Beth was kidding, but it was still awkward to hear. She _was_ technically Beth's stepmother. She wondered how much Beth knew—did she know Shelby was Rachel's biological mother and therefore Beth was kind of like her sister? The absurdity of it all hit Rachel hard and she knew this future couldn't possibly come true. She'd never be close enough to Shelby to even meet Beth, let alone spend weekends with her.

Rachel got her chance to talk to Beth when they waded knee-deep into the chilly ocean, leaving Noah on the shore having a water gun fight with some local boys and their dad. She knew it might not be appropriate to ask, but she was dying to know what Beth thought of their relationship. So she started talking, and decided to see what would happen.

"Beth, I need to talk to you about something."

Beth looked over at her. "Yeah?"

"You know Noah and I want to have a baby, right?" Rachel hoped she did, and she was relieved when Beth nodded.

"Yeah, I hope you guys do. It'd be fun to have a little sister or brother."

"Really? You're really okay about it?"

Beth raised her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't I be? You guys already sat me down and had this talk, remember?"

Rachel swallowed hard, mind racing. "I … I know. I just wanted to make sure, because I have a feeling it's going to happen soon. I mean, not that soon. I'm not sure when. But still—" she babbled, unable to stop.

Beth held up a hand. "Dude, relax. I'm happy about you guys having kids, I swear."

"Oh, Beth, I'm glad. It's just that with our complicated history …" She left the sentence unfinished so Beth could fill in the blank.

Beth surprised her by coming over to give her a hug. She stared down at their toes, touching underneath the water, as Beth held her. They broke apart and Beth smiled.

"Believe me, I know our family is less than normal. I mean, I know it's absolutely nutso that your friend Quinn is my bio mom, and my real mom is also your bio mom, and my dad has dated my bio mom, my real mom, and my stepmom. But guess what, Rach? I have a bunch of adults who love me and that's more than I can say for some of my friends. So yeah, sister-mama, it's weird and you guys having a baby adds to the weirdness, but so what? I like my life and I know you like yours, so who cares what people think?"

Rachel held back a sigh of relief. So Beth knew everything, even had some sort of relationship with Quinn. And for a 15-year-old, she was surprisingly mature. Rachel couldn't help it; she teared up. This little girl had gone from the unwanted baby of two scared teenagers to the coolest member of her family, and she almost didn't want to ever give that up. Back in her real life she'd have to look up Shelby one day and at least keep in touch so she'd have some tie to Beth, even if they never saw each other. "Beth, you're amazing, you know that?" Rachel reached over to hug her again, and Beth patted her back.

"Race to you shore, Rach?"

"You're on!"

They raced back to the beach, laughing and splashing their way along. Noah aimed his Super Soaker at them and they held up their hands in surrender, shrieking. Noah had left himself unprotected and he got hit from all sides by the boys. He dropped his gun and pretended to wave a white flag, and the boys and their dad ran off down the shoreline, calling goodbye.

The three of them huddled on their beach blanket, with Noah grabbing a towel and the girls drying their own feet.

"Water was c-colder than it l-looked," Noah stuttered, shivering. Rachel wrapped her towel around his shoulders and hugged him to her, planting a kiss on his neck. "Mm, much better," he murmured into her ear, and she pulled back to look at him. She had a flashback to helping him dry off from his first slushie-ing sophomore year, and to her surprise he was looking at her in exactly the same way he had then—like he couldn't believe he deserved her help.

"Beth, why don't you start unpacking our lunch?" Rachel suggested, and Beth turned away to open their picnic basket.

While Beth was distracted, Rachel took the opportunity to kiss him, and Noah smiled against her lips. She rubbed the towel over his head, and they stared intensely at each other. She wondered if he was thinking of the slushie incident, too. That was the first time they'd talked to each other as true equals, and she'd never forgotten how flattering that was, even though they'd both been sad about their imminent breakup because of the silly football-versus-glee issue.

She had to get away from their close proximity or she would do something completely inappropriate. She tossed the towel at him, blushing, and he caught it with a smirk, probably interpreting her blush correctly. She couldn't believe that to him, they'd been married eight years, and he could still make her squirm like that.

Rachel helped Beth unpack the rest of the food and they enjoyed their picnic lunch.

Afterwards they tossed a football around, and though Rachel dropped it more times than she caught it, she had a good time. She was slowly deciding that she was excited about having her own children. She'd never thought much about it before, but if she could have half the bond with her kids that she and Noah both seemed to have with Beth, then she would be very lucky. She couldn't help but think that Noah would make an amazing father … but so would Finn. It wasn't a competition—it was just that she could actually start to picture having children with Noah, and that scared her. Maybe it was because she'd never really seen Finn interact with children. It didn't mean she wouldn't _want_ to have kids with Finn, it was just that Noah was so great …

She tried to push those thoughts from her mind. She could enjoy this future without sacrificing her future with Finn, when they got there.

They headed back around dinnertime, stopping at a pizza parlor on the way out of the park. They returned home late, and Beth went right up to her room after saying good night and thanking them for a fun day. As soon as they heard her door close, Noah scooped Rachel up and carried her to their bedroom. Rachel was about to protest, but she decided not to fight it as he dumped her on the bed—their moment on the beach was replaying over and over again in her mind and she knew it had gotten him going, too. He went over to close and lock their door and then pounced on her, kissing her everywhere as she started stripping their clothing.

This time was completely different than the other times, and Rachel appreciated the variety of Puckerman sex she was getting to experience after hearing about his prowess for so long. Their unspoken agreement to be quiet made things rushed and intense in the best possible way. She knew this wasn't the best idea, but once again, she decided she didn't care. They finished quickly and he stayed on top of her, breathing into her chest as she worked to control her own breathing. "I love you so much," she said quietly, knowing that he'd want to hear it but also surprising herself because it was starting to be true. She decided she was allowed to love someone else in this universe. It didn't mean she didn't love Finn in hers.

He didn't respond, only lifted his head to kiss her, and soon they were plain old making out. Rachel couldn't help but flash back to high school again, and as great as that had been, this was so much better. They were both completely relaxed and trading kisses languidly as she wrapped her arms around him to bring him as close as possible. She wanted him to surround her so she could memorize this moment, because this was quite possibly the most relaxed she'd ever been.

Before things heated up again Noah pushed away from her to sprawl across his side of the bed. She slipped on her nightgown and climbed into bed next to him, holding his hand like she had the night before.

"Such a good day, huh?" Noah said as he lay back against his pillow and turned to look at her. She faced him on her own pillow.

"It really was."

"Hey, I meant to ask you, you still going to the courthouse after school Monday?"

Rachel tried to hide her disappointment at being confused yet again. She had no idea what he was talking about. "Um …" She stalled for time and Noah smiled.

"It's okay if you decided you don't wanna do it. But I know you've been talking about it forever and you may as well officially be a Puckerman. Everyone knows you as that now."

_Ah_, Rachel thought. She was going to legally change her name. "My kids at school all call me Mrs. Puckerman," she noted, and he nodded.

"I know. And we did say it'd be nice for you to have the same last name as our kids."

"I agree." _Why not?_, Rachel figured. If she was still here Monday, she'd go see about getting her name changed. Besides a new driver's license and that kind of stuff, it wouldn't be a big deal. "All right, I'll go Monday."

"Cool. Good night, Mrs. Puckerman," he said with a smile.

Her own face broke into a grin. Forget what her students called her; she _loved_ it when _he_ said it. "Good night, Mr. Puckerman."

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but for whatever reason, she couldn't. Noah was snoring softly next to her, and she decided now was as good a time as any to do some more snooping, since she had no idea how much longer she'd be here.

She crept downstairs and into the living room, running her hands along the Blu-ray shelves and pausing at the TV. Like on her phone, she didn't see a power button anywhere, and the flatscreen was built into the wall. She picked up the remote from the coffee table and inspected it. She'd seen Noah use it the other night for _Idol_, but she had no idea what any of the buttons meant—she'd been paying more attention to the show than to how the remote worked.

She was kind of enjoying getting a peek at all this future technology. She would have to remember all of this so that when it was really 2025 she'd know how to use this stuff before anyone else. She tried pressing the red button at the top and the TV flashed on. The volume blared, and she fumbled for a mute button. "Mute!" she finally cried in frustration, and to her utter shock the TV muted. The blue light on the remote was glowing, and she punched it. "Unmute!" she called again, but nothing happened. She pressed the blue button and it glowed. "Unmute!" she tried again. The volume blared. "Mute!" she called, and the TV went silent. She played with the voice controls for a few more minutes, and then called "Power Off." The TV and the remote immediately went dark.

She set the remote back down on the coffee table and wandered toward a desk in the far corner that she'd been wanting to look through. There was nothing interesting in the desk drawers, just papers for Noah's Ark. She flipped open the laptop sitting on top of the desk and turned it on. Luckily, this computer functioned like computers from 2012, even though it was a new model.

There were a bunch of file folders on the desktop, and she clicked on one labeled "Videos." About a hundred files popped up, and she scanned their titles. They had names like "Florida 2017," "Berry Anniversary Party," "Rachel's 30th," "Noah's 30th," "Beth's 8th Grade Graduation," and so on. She clicked on "Florida 2017" and footage of Rachel lying on a beach towel popped up. She was spreading sunblock on herself.

"Why are you filming this?" she whined at the camera.

"Because this is the first usable footage from our honeymoon," Noah's voice said from off-camera.

Video Rachel rolled her eyes. "Well, no one wants to see me practice good skin care."

"_I_ do," Noah said, bobbing the camera up and down as he nodded.

Video Rachel looked up at the camera and positively beamed. "I love hearing you say those two little words," she gushed, and the camera took a nosedive into the sand as Noah presumably dropped it to do something not suitable for filming.

Rachel closed the file and smiled. It was nice to see herself looking younger, and most importantly, deliriously happy. She couldn't wait for her own honeymoon with Finn.

There was another video called "Puckleberry Makes It Legal" and Rachel laughed at the name. She clicked on it and footage of Noah and Rachel getting married in their Lima synagogue popped up. She watched with rapt attention as their rabbi began the ceremony. She listened to their vows, which they'd chosen to sing to each other (naturally)—she'd sung a shortened version of Bon Jovi's "Thank You For Loving Me" and he'd chosen a mashup of "With You" and "Love Song" from _Pippin_. She cried as she listened to Video Noah. So much love poured out of him, and even from the shaky handheld footage of whomever from the audience was filming them, she could see how in love the two people in the video were. By the time Noah stomped on the glass and they'd been declared husband and wife, she was cheering right along with the rest of the congregation.

She wiped her eyes and searched for more interesting-sounding videos. She watched a visit with Tina and her husband and newborn Chloe; backstage footage from a concert featuring Sam, Noah, and herself as they watched Mercedes perform; footage of a trip to Disney World with Quinn, her husband and kids, Shelby, Noah, herself, and Beth. She couldn't tell too much about Quinn's relationship with Beth from the video, but to an outsider it would look like one big happy family on vacation—everyone teased each other and made goofy faces at the camera. Beth was about 12 in the video, and she took good care of Quinn's young sons. Noah seemed to get along well with Quinn's husband, an athletic guy named Jeff. And there was footage of Quinn, Shelby, and Rachel flanking Beth in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle as they posed for a picture. Quinn had her arm around Beth, Shelby had her arm around Rachel, and everyone was smiling genuine-looking smiles.

Rachel was always happy when people got along, but it made her truly ecstatic to see that Shelby had been accepted into the fold and that Quinn's family and Rachel's family were close. She might never have that in her reality but at least these people did.

She clicked on "Fourth of July 2023" and saw her dads hosting a barbecue in their Lima backyard. Noah's mom and sister were nearby talking with Rachel, and Noah and some guy who was probably Noah's brother-in-law were throwing a football around.

She closed the videos folder, needing a break from seeing herself at various ages. It was unsettling, that was for sure.

She clicked on the email icon and it brought up Noah's inbox. The only unread messages were from guys whose names she didn't recognize. Their subject lines said "BBQ next weekend" and "Details for Yankees game" so she didn't bother to open them, figuring they were plans with Noah's friends. The first read email was from her, sent the previous Monday. The subject line was blank, so she opened the message only to click away from it again quickly—it was full of dirty talk she could never imagine herself saying. She opened it again and scrolled down; her message was in reply to one from Noah that said even _dirtier_ things. She read that one with interest and mentally filed it away for later.

They should definitely start password-protecting this computer, especially if he was going to leave it downstairs where Beth or their future children could find it.

She gasped as she realized where her train of thought had taken her. _She _would not be password-protecting anything. _She_ didn't actually belong here. It was almost like … she wanted to _stay_.

But that was crazy. She wanted to get back to her real life. There would be no future children with Noah.

She looked in the Word documents next. Most of the files were Noah's Ark–related, but she found an interesting document called _Puckleberry Bucket List_. She and Noah had listed fifty things they wanted to do together. Her face lit up—it was such a romantic idea. Most of the things were locations: France, Italy, and Spain were all crossed off. There was San Diego Zoo, Grand Canyon (not yet crossed off), and Wrigley Field. And then there were things like "Join the mile-high club" (crossed off; Rachel wondered what that had been like), "Meet Neil Diamond and thank him for bringing us together," "See Celine Dion's Vegas show," "Drive an RV across the country," "Rush the stage at a Lady Antebellum concert," "Audition for a reality show," "Tour a slushie factory," and "Get lost in Mexico." It was a nice mix of things that represented their history together and things they would both want to do, and she was proud of Noah for doing everything he could to make sure he never felt trapped by Lima—he was only 31 and he'd already traveled the world with someone who loved him. Rachel was almost jealous. She resolved to make her own Bucket List with Finn, except maybe call it something less morbid.

She decided it was finally time to look up Finn. She logged on to Facebook and searched for him. His profile was completely blocked. His cover photo was of a peewee football game, and she wondered if one of the players was his son. She really wished she had had the courage to ask Kurt about him. But part of her didn't want to know about the life he'd made without her, as curious as she was. He looked nice in his profile picture, smiling at the camera, wearing a T-shirt and jeans. He looked older, of course, but he still had that same boyish smile and charm that was evident even in a still photograph.

Rachel clicked to enlarge it as much as she could, but that didn't help the pang of longing she felt as she looked into 31-year-old Finn's eyes. Why had he ruined everything? She knew she would have to be strong about this; somehow, back in her reality, she would have to see the warning signs if things were going wrong between them and fix it.

Thinking about all this made Rachel want to go to sleep—maybe tomorrow morning she would wake up in 2012.

She shut down the laptop and tiptoed back upstairs. Beth's bedroom door was ajar, and she peeked inside at her stepdaughter's sleeping form.

"Good night, Beth," she whispered, blowing her a kiss. Then she headed into the bedroom she shared with Noah, snuggled against him, and fell asleep.


	8. Cheering Section

**Chapter 8: Cheering Section **

The next morning, Rachel opened her eyes to the sound of Noah moving around their bedroom.

"Morning," she said sleepily, swallowing her disappointment and resolving to be happy about spending yet another day here.

"Hi, Baby. How'd you sleep?" He came over to kiss her good morning and she sighed in contentment.

"Really well. You?"

"Yeah. You seen my Cardinals hat?" He rooted around in the closet as he spoke.

"Cardinals hat?" Rachel asked, sitting up. She'd turned off her alarm, not feeling like getting up early after being awake in the middle of the night. It was now almost 10.

"Yeah, you know, for Beth's game."

"Um …" Rachel trailed off, pretending to think. Beth's team must be called the Cardinals, but she hadn't seen a hat with that logo anywhere.

Noah groaned and kept shoving things aside in the closet until he held it up triumphantly. "Found it!"

Rachel got out of bed and took the hat from him, looking it over. She wondered if she had one of her own. She wanted to support Beth's team.

Noah answered her unspoken question for her. "I've been wearing yours for so long since I lost mine; I bet you're glad to have it back." He gestured to his half of the closet, and sure enough, there was a baseball cap hanging on a knob by the door.

She put Noah's hat on his head and pulled on her own. "There. We look like properly supportive parents."

Noah beamed, but didn't say anything. She had a feeling he was getting excited about that "parent" word—she'd meant it in reference to Beth, but she just knew he was thinking about their own potential kids. It was scary how well she could read him after only a few days.

They dressed and headed downstairs, where Beth was lounging on the couch with her iPad. She greeted them and Noah suggested they go out to breakfast, so they headed to a nearby diner.

"Talked to Mom this morning," Beth announced as they ate. "She said rehearsal's going really well. They're at it again this morning."

"I'm glad," Rachel replied, just as Noah said "That sucks." They all laughed.

"She's not gonna make it to the game."

"Oh Beth, I'm sorry," Rachel said, trying to gauge how upset Beth was. But she seemed fine.

Beth shrugged. "Yeah, it's okay. I told her at the beginning of the season that I knew Nationals time was gonna be tough and that she could miss a few. This is the first one she won't be able to make, so …"

"Rach and I will just cheer extra hard," Noah said.

Beth rolled her eyes. "You're already the loudest people in the stands. Please don't embarrass me _more_," she said jokingly.

Noah shook his head. "No promises."

After breakfast they went back to the house to get ready for the game, and Rachel's dad LeRoy called her on her cell.

"Hi, Sweetheart," he said, and Rachel's eyes welled up at the sound of her dad's voice.

"It's so good to hear from you," Rachel said gratefully.

"How are things?"

Rachel told him about Fire Island, Kurt's trip to Niagara, and the game today. It was nice to be able to describe events that she had actually experienced. She wouldn't have been able to do that had he called on Thursday.

There was muffled noise in the background and she could hear her other dad asking something. "Dad wants to know if you decided about your name," her dad said.

Rachel was happy they'd known about that. It meant she still had the same relationship with them—they still talked about everything, and that knowledge was hugely comforting. "Yes, I'm going to the courthouse on Monday," she confirmed.

"Honey, that's fantastic!" her dad crowed. "She's gonna do it, Hiram!"

Rachel giggled as her dads whistled and clapped into the phone. "It's not a big deal, really."

"It _is_ a big deal," her dad insisted. "You've been Rachel Barbra Berry for thirty-one years. All of your fans know you as Berry. But now, you're going to take on the most important role of your life—motherhood."

Was everyone in this future baby-crazy? She supposed she couldn't blame them; after all, she had no idea why she'd dropped into this particular year. Maybe this epiphany she was supposed have in order to go home was to carefully examine whether she wanted to be a parent? Well, she'd done that, and she was still here. So she was at a loss.

She tried to concentrate on the conversation at hand. "Dad, that's not happening just yet."

"Oh, come on Rachel, I want to be able to sing lullabies to my grandchildren before I lose my vocal range, and we know your dad can't do 'Goodnight My Angel' justice."

"Stop being so dramatic!" Hiram said in the background. "And I can too, if you rearrange it for me."

Rachel let out an amused sigh. This debate could last for hours. "I'd better get going. We don't want to be late for the game."

"All right. Love you, my shining star. Have fun tonight at the show. Can't wait to hear all about it."

"Thanks. Love both of you," Rachel replied, and they hung up. What show were they talking about?

"Hey, Babe?" Rachel called to Noah, who was in the kitchen moving water bottles from the fridge to Beth's sports bag.

"Yeah?"

She headed into the kitchen to check the calendar as she spoke. "What show are we going to tonight?"

Noah gave her a bemused look, but then shook it off, probably chalking it up to more of her weird behavior as of late. "You've only been talking about it for six months. It's the start of the previews for _Bombshell_, remember?"

"That's right," Rachel said, acting like it had just dawned on her. As a Broadway vet she must get tickets to previews and that kind of stuff all the time, which was exciting. And to think she'd see a new show no one in 2012 had ever heard of! She'd have to be sure to invest in it if it turned out to be a real thing in her reality. She didn't even want to know what it was about—she'd be surprised by it tonight.

They headed out to the game and spent a nice day in the sun, their twin Cardinals hats and loud comments marking them as Beth's cheering section. Rachel had never been a big baseball fan, but watching Beth play softball was surprisingly fun. It was easier to pay attention when she had someone to root for. She remembered watching the football, basketball, and baseball games in high school, cheering for Finn (and a little for Noah, too) and making a big fuss over every little thing Finn did right. It was like that at Beth's game, but more fun because all of the other parents surrounding them were just as enthusiastic.

"Here you go," Noah said as he handed Rachel chips and salsa from the concession stand. He had bought himself a hot dog, and Rachel tried not to make a face at the smell. He took a bite, chewed it, and then leaned over to kiss her, eyes taunting her to do it.

"Uh-uh," she shook her head. "No way, not until that thing is fully digested."

He took another bite and chewed contentedly. "Ahh, so good," he said, opening his mouth to show her the partially chewed bits.

"Noah!" she whined, shoving his shoulder. "You're disgusting."

"Thank you." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and swallowed.

He was acting like flirty teenage Noah, and, strangely, that made her want him even more than when he was acting like adult Noah. She'd seen lots of new sides of him these last few days and she realized that he was still the same person he'd been in 2012, just with more responsibilities. And she loved every facet of what she'd seen.

As much as she was longing to get back to Finn, she wondered what would happen when she saw Noah again in 2012. Would these feelings come rushing to the surface? Would she keep in touch with him, somehow make sure that he really did get a chance to come to New York? And when he and Finn were both in New York with her, was that going to be awkward? She knew that unless whatever magic had brought her here also erased her memory, she'd never forget this experience.

An unsettling thought suddenly occurred to her—was she going to keep comparing Noah and Finn like this? And what would that do to her relationship with both of them?

She took a deep breath, trying to push those thoughts aside and concentrate on the game.


	9. In the City

**Chapter 9: In the City**

The game ended, and after returning home to change, they dropped Beth off at her apartment on Riverside Drive. Rachel was in awe of Shelby's place … it was elegant and spacious and clean, just as Rachel had pictured. Where her Brooklyn house was homey and had that lived-in feeling, Shelby's apartment didn't look like it was the kind of place where people could kick off their shoes and just hang out.

But Beth did kick off her grimy cleats and dump her softball gear by the door as they entered.

"Mom!" she hollered, and Shelby emerged from the living room, hair in a bun, wearing glasses, and poring over sheet music.

She kissed them all hello distractedly. "How was the game?" she asked, finally breaking her concentration on the music.

"We won!" Beth exclaimed.

"Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry I missed it," Shelby apologized.

"S'okay, Mom, really." Beth hugged Shelby and then Rachel and Noah. "Sorry guys, gotta go do homework." She rolled her eyes as Noah gave her a thumb's down. "Thanks for all the fun stuff this weekend," she called as she headed down the hall.

Rachel was itching for a tour of the apartment but knew it wasn't the right time to ask. They all waved goodbye to Beth and then left Shelby to her work.

She and Noah headed outside into the afternoon sun. "Where do you want to grab dinner before the show?" Noah asked, and Rachel shrugged.

"Wherever you want."

They made their way to a hole-in-the-wall Japanese place near Times Square and had a delicious dinner while chatting about the weekend and what a good time they'd had. Then Noah brought up vacation.

"You thought any more where you wanna go this summer? My busy season's already started but we could go the first week you're done school."

Rachel wondered what she did all summer while Noah was busy cleaning pools. Then she remembered seeing something about charity events in the filing cabinet in their bedroom and realized she must spend summers volunteering. The thought filled her with satisfaction—she always knew she'd use her celebrity to give back.

But she had to return her thoughts to the here and now. _She_ wanted to go home. Where 2025 Rachel wanted to go, she had no idea. Then again, she might be stuck in this reality all summer. She shuddered inwardly at the thought. "Hmm, how about Vegas? I was looking at our Bucket List again the other day, and we should cross something else off."

"Especially since Celine's getting older; we don't know when her last show will be," Noah nodded. "But it might be sold out already. I'll check." He pulled out his phone.

Rachel smiled—he'd known exactly what she had meant when she'd suggested Vegas. And hey, if she _was_ still here then, she'd get to see Celine Dion perform live!

"We could probably swing it; there are like fifty tickets left," Noah said, tapping some things into his phone. "We can book the trip after work tomorrow."

"Great," Rachel agreed, and they shared a smile. She was looking forward to a life where she could book a Vegas trip on a whim.

After dinner they headed into Times Square, holding hands as they walked. The tourist area was packed, and Rachel stayed close to him, trying not to look around like she hadn't seen the place since Nationals junior year. She had to pretend she knew the area like the back of her hand; after all, 2025 Rachel had been coming to work here for years.

They passed Sardi's and Rachel peered in the window, trying to see someone famous. But just like on Friday, there was no one she recognized. Wait, she _did_ recognize someone … her waitress from dinner with Kurt. It was a sobering thought that she'd been in this reality long enough to recognize _strangers_.

Noah stopped at a crosswalk to allow the speeding traffic to pass. Rachel clutched his hand, feeling safe and protected with him. They smiled at each other.

Then, out of nowhere, Rachel heard a whooshing sound in her ears, had the sensation of falling, and her vision went black …

Oh, no, she couldn't go home yet! She wasn't ready … there was still so much she wanted to experience … she wanted to go to Vegas with Noah … she wanted to see Kurt in his Andrew Lloyd Webber musical … visit Blaine's jazz club … see Beth's next game …

But when the moment of disorientation was over, she realized she was still in 2025. She had been pushed onto the pavement, backside aching from the impact. She glanced wildly around for Noah, and as her vision cleared, she saw him lying in the street surrounded by swerved cars. People were shouting and horns were blaring. A bike messenger knelt next to Noah's body, his bike tossed aside nearby.

Rachel let out a guttural scream and rushed toward Noah, pushing aside the crowd of gathering onlookers.

She dropped to her knees, unable to look at Noah's face. His leg was twisted at an odd angle and his torso was smeared with blood and bits of glass. He was unconscious, but she could see his chest rising and falling very faintly.

"Oh God, oh God," she whimpered, and the bike messenger kneeling on the other side of Noah caught her eye.

"I'm so sorry," he choked out, crying. "I couldn't stop, and he was right in my path; I am so—"

"Sorry isn't good enough!" Rachel bellowed. The bike messenger backed up, hands raised. "Get away from him!" Rachel screamed in his face, unable to do anything but cry out. "Get away!"

The wail of an ambulance was getting closer, and Rachel looked up to see the banged-up car that had hit him. The driver was still sitting in his seat, frozen and staring in horror at the scene. The bike messenger was still backed away with his hands raised.

She looked down at Noah, his face streaked with blood, and gasped at the blood pooling on the street behind his head. "Noah!" she sobbed, over and over, until a policewoman grabbed her, helped her up, and kept her supported as she watched EMS workers lift Noah onto a stretcher and load him into the ambulance.

"Better let me take you; looks like they'll be busy on the ride over," the policewoman said, and Rachel nodded, dazed and still crying. "That's a good thing," the policewoman continued. "They're going to do everything they can for him, and the sooner the better."

As the policewoman helped her stand so she was supporting her own weight again, Rachel took a step forward and fell headlong into a stark white abyss. She didn't even have time to scream out before it enveloped her.


	10. The Abyss

**Chapter 10: The Abyss **

Rachel spun through the vast white abyss. She couldn't see anything, just white everywhere. She finally landed on her feet and came face-to-face with … Patti Lupone?

"Ms. Lupone?" she gasped in disbelief as her eyes adjusted to the figure coming toward her.

"Hi, Rachel."

"What—"

Patti put a finger to Rachel's lips and Rachel stopped talking, not even sure what she'd been about to ask.

"I'm not allowed to say much, but I couldn't send you back without explaining some things."

"Noah! Is he going to be okay?"

"Shh, shh," Patti hugged Rachel, who was too stunned to return the gesture.

"Look, I have to make this quick. Upstairs doesn't like us fraternizing with the humans."

Rachel stared at her, at a loss for words.

"I'm your guardian angel, Rachel. I took this form because I know how much you love Patti. I thought you'd like to see a friendly face."

Rachel blinked, not sure what to think about any of it.

"I know it was unfair to dump you into the future like this with no explanation, but I'm only supposed to break through to talk to you once, and I'd rather do it right before you return to your time. I had to show you what your life could be like if you opened yourself up to new experiences and didn't tie yourself to your high school sweetheart. You're holding yourself back by being with him, and you know it."

"Wait a minute—"

Patti didn't let her finish. "You've been calling it an alternate reality, but this is absolutely real, Rachel. This is what your life could be if you choose a certain path. It's a glimpse. One that you needed to see before you walk down the aisle at 18."

Rachel took a few deep breaths, looking into Patti's eyes and seeing that this was all too real. She didn't want to hear this. Sure, she'd come to understand how she could choose Noah. Their life together was wonderful. But all she'd ever truly wanted was to get back to Finn …

"Understandable," Patti agreed. "But not necessarily healthy."

"You can read my thoughts?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms.

"I told you, I'm _your_ guardian angel. Of course I can."

"So is Noah going to be all right?"

Patti closed her eyes. "I can't tell you that."

"Then what's the point?!" Rachel stamped her foot and started crying again. "What's the point of telling me to choose this path if he just dies anyway? How is that fair? My choices are to marry Noah and he dies, or marry Finn and maybe not be completely fulfilled?"

She hadn't let herself really think it until just then, but it was true. She knew that being with Finn could hold her back. She would always be worried about overshadowing him. And it looked like he really would start to resent her and try to break up with her, if this future was as real as Patti said it was. But she'd choose that over the chance that Noah could die. She had to.

"Just because we might lose the people we love one day doesn't mean we shouldn't cherish the time we have with them," Patti admonished.

"But that applies to Finn, too, then."

Patti cocked her head. "I always knew you were smart. I guess it does. But I want you to be sure to never waste a moment."

"I _don't_," Rachel said firmly.

Patti raised her eyebrows. "But it looks like you still need to learn how to become part of a relationship without losing yourself. You've never been able to successfully do that with Finn. One of you is always giving up something, whether it's high school popularity or Broadway dreams. With Noah, he loves you for exactly who you are—metaphorical warts and all. You must have noticed how Finn much prefers it when you suppress your dramatic urges and don't have opinions about everything."

Rachel bit her lip, thinking this over. "So you're saying that this is really about staying true to myself no matter what. That if I change my name from Berry to Puckerman and have children with Noah, I still get to be me."

Patti put a finger to her nose. "You got it."

"But I could be Rachel Hudson and work hard to stay true to myself!"

"Sure you could," Patti shrugged. "But would it be worth the work?"

Rachel wasn't sure how to answer that.

"My time is up," Patti said, checking her wrist although there was no watch on it. "Promise me you'll think about what I said: Never waste a moment. I can't tell you how to spend _your_ time, but promise me this little glimpse wasn't a waste of _my_ time."

"I promise," Rachel said solemnly. She didn't know what to think anymore. "But please, you have to tell me … is Noah going to live?"

Patti looked down. She was starting to get fuzzy around the edges.

"Tell me!"

Patti began to fade away as Rachel reached out for her. "Tell me!" She grasped at air as Patti disappeared completely.

Rachel flung out her arms, reaching wildly for some trace that Patti Lupone had just been standing in front of her. There was only whiteness surrounding her now, and she began to feel dizzy.

"Please be alive." She whispered a quick prayer for Noah as she closed her eyes, falling through the white abyss again.


	11. Back in Time

**Chapter 11: Back in Time**

When Rachel opened her eyes, she was staring up at Finn. His mortarboard was on his head and he was dressed in his graduation robe.

She hadn't missed anything!

"You blanked out for a sec there, Rach. Did you hear me?"

Rachel barely registered that Finn was speaking. She turned and rushed headlong down the hallway, searching for the only person she needed to see right now. She passed Santana, and knew she was getting close.

Linda Nuñez, Kevin Peterson, Justin Pollack …

"Noah!" She ploughed into him, knocking him into the wall with a fierce hug. "You're alive," she whispered into his chest.

"The hell, Berry?" Noah finally reached down to hug her back.

She pushed herself off of him and he straightened up, fixing his disheveled robe.

"I just needed to make sure you were okay," she said breathlessly, staring up into his 18-year-old eyes and feeling nothing but love and gratitude that she hadn't lost him forever. As long as he was alive in the here and now, she could keep him safe in 2025.

"Why wouldn't I be?" His brow creased and he stared right back at her, looking beyond confused.

Rachel suddenly felt very silly, especially because everyone in the vicinity was whispering about them. "Oh, um, I just had a weird premonition. I'm a little bit psychic, you know." It wasn't until that moment that she realized maybe her not-quite-real affinity for the supernatural had helped Patti send her into the future. Unless all angels could do that. Who knew?

"Yeah, well, your mojo failed you on this one, Princess. I don't even have any paper cuts."

"Sorry. Um, congrats." She hugged him again awkwardly, and then turned to leave. But she thought better of it and decided she needed to do this, because it might be her last chance. She reached up on tiptoe, tugged him down toward her by the collar of his robe, and kissed him. He recoiled in surprise at first but then leaned into it, and she closed her eyes tightly, savoring the moment just like Patti had wanted.

When they broke apart, she backed away, not willing to break their eye contact.

"Anybody who breathes a word of this will get a beatdown," Noah cautioned to everyone whose last name started with L through Q. The onlookers tried to look busy as they turned away, still whispering. Noah winked at her, and she smiled back. Then she turned and ran toward the hallway holding the A-through-K's.

"_Loca_," she heard Santana mutter as she passed by. Rachel waved and continued on her way. Santana wouldn't say anything, she knew that much.

And she also knew she'd better get back in line. She was about to graduate high school, and after spending the last four days believing she might not get to experience that, she was going to enjoy it.


	12. After Lima

**Chapter 12: After Lima **

Since the first day she and Finn arrived in New York, things were different between them. She was prepared for this, and thought she could make it work by making sure to always pay extra attention to him.

But it became clear early on, as he struggled at Pace, that they were both spread in such different directions that neither of them could give each other the attention they deserved. She spent more and more time on her craft, determined to get on Broadway even earlier than in her glimpse of the future. When the audition for _Cabaret_ came up, she almost didn't go, knowing it was the same show 2025 Noah had said she'd been in. But she couldn't turn it down—she was practically handed an understudy role by one of her professors. So she took the part.

She tried with Finn, she really did, for a while, but she finally decided (after many sleepless nights and crying sessions with Quinn) that it was time to let him go, and she gave him back the engagement ring.

In a way, what she already knew about their relationship in New York made the decision easier. She thought maybe if she broke up with him before things disintegrated, they had a chance of remaining friends.

And as she celebrated her 20th birthday with Kurt, Blaine (who'd arrived earlier that year), Santana (who'd decided to move to New York after graduation), a few girls from her dorm, and her ex-turned-friend Finn, she was validated yet again. Her future was already different than what Patti Lupone had shown her.

Still, when Noah arrived junior year, Shelby and Beth in tow, she spent a week ignoring his calls. She couldn't see him. She didn't want to have anything to do with him. Even though things were slightly different, she couldn't take the chance that she was going to endanger his life.

It took two weeks of her avoiding him for him to pick the lock on her dorm room door and slam it open.

She was sitting at her desk doing homework. She had just finished pressing the Ignore button on her phone after he'd called.

"Noah!" She jumped up from her desk as he came barreling into the room.

"What, you're a snobby New Yorker now so you're too good to associate with fellow Jews?"

Rachel closed her eyes. She'd been afraid of this—even after all this time, every emotion she'd felt for him during her little trip to the future was bubbling to the surface, and all she wanted to do was run into his arms. But she had to stay strong.

When she opened her eyes he was staring at her with his arms folded and one eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"That's it? Just 'I'm sorry'?"

"It's hard to explain."

He took a seat on her bed and patted the space next to him. There was no way she could sit there. Much too close. "Try."

She sat back down in her desk chair. "I've been busy. I can't drop everything because I heard you moved here." She despised how cold she was being but knew it was for the best.

"Hate to tell you, but Hummel keeps track of your every move and he told me you've been avoiding me on purpose."

"Traitor!" Rachel gasped.

"I beat it out of him," Noah said with a wink. It infuriated her when he said things like that because she never knew if he was kidding. "Seriously, I thought now that I'm here we could all hang out. And I want you to meet Beth. You don't have to see Shelby. I can bring her over one day." He glanced around her single dorm. "Do they allow toddlers in here?"

"Noah, you're very sweet, but I just can't." She stared down at her lap.

Noah stood up and made his way to the door. "When did you turn into such a bitch?" he snarled as he yanked it open and headed into the hall.

Rachel knew she might lose him forever if she let him walk away. She'd kept Finn; she thought she deserved to keep Noah, too, even if they couldn't be together. Patti had warned her not to waste opportunities.

"Look," she called, following after him. "I want you in my life. But I can't go out with you."

Noah turned around and after a look of surprise crossed his face, he laughed at her.

"What's so funny?" She was trying to protect him, and this was the thanks she got?

"I never said anything about _dating_ you, Berry. Man, I missed your brand of crazy. Come here." He stepped forward and hugged her, and she hesitated for only a second before wrapping her arms around him. She had automatically assumed that they'd start dating again when he came to New York, and the thought had terrified her. Now she felt a little better knowing he wasn't interested in that at all. She had to make sure that her assumptions about the future didn't put her in such a ridiculous position again. She tried not to let on how embarrassed she was.

"I'm sorry. I know you must've heard I broke up with Finn, and I just thought—"

"Stop apologizing. And don't ever refuse to see me because you're afraid I'm gonna ask you out. That's just stupid."

Rachel smiled up at him. "Friends?"

"Of course."

And they stayed friends for quite a while. Rachel went out with a few different guys from her school; Noah went out with a few different girls from his school. She never liked meeting his girlfriends. As much as she tried to reign in her jealousy, she couldn't bring herself to be nice to these unwanted intruders.

Finn had left Pace before failing out, thanks to Rachel's encouragement. He moved back to Lima and transferred to Ohio State for junior year. Toward the end of that year he met a really nice girl from Kent State, and Rachel was excited and proud to attend their wedding a few years after that. Sure, it was a little uncomfortable, even after all this time, watching him say his vows to someone who wasn't her, but she got through it. His wife turned out to fit in really well with their group.

As senior year began, she and Santana got an apartment together. They'd managed to become really close the past three years despite their outsized personalities clashing on a regular basis. Noah, Kurt, and Blaine were over their place all the time.

Midway through the first semester Santana got cast in a new reality show that was a _Jersey Shore_ spinoff. Suddenly Rachel found that more and more, she and Noah were hanging out alone, or as the third and fourth wheels with Kurt and Blaine.

After a _Cabaret_ performance one particularly cold winter night, Noah walked her home.

"I dumped Carly," he said out of nowhere, and Rachel smiled inwardly, though outwardly she made sympathetic sounds.

"That's a shame. She only lasted, what, a month?"

"Hey, don't judge." He nudged her shoulder with his arm.

She smirked but didn't say anything. She _was_ judging. She'd hated Carly.

"It's not like any of _your_ relationships have lasted, either."

"We're talking about you here, not me," she fired back.

"Ever feel like there's a reason we do this?" he asked quietly.

"Do what?"

"You know, go out with people for a while, get bored with them, dump them, and then have nights like this."

Rachel bit her lip. He was about to acknowledge the sexual tension that still simmered between them after all these years. The thing was, she had no argument for him. Except for the all-important issue of his life being on the line, which she couldn't very well tell him. "Nights like what?" she asked, playing dumb.

"You're in school four days a week and at the theater every single night—and I see you more than I see all of my other friends combined."

"That's your problem. Go out with your other friends more." She had to steer him away from this conversation.

He stopped walking and Rachel bumped into him. She watched him watching her, his breath coming out in white wisps. She knew her breathing had quickened as well and she tried to control it.

"I know you said you don't want to go out with me, and I've respected that. But I lied to you that night in your dorm. I kinda secretly thought we'd hook up when I came here. Then you weren't into it, so I had to pretend I wasn't, either. But you have to know how much—"

She knew it was unfair, she knew it was irresponsible, but there she was again, fighting her inexplicable attraction to Noah Puckerman and failing miserably. "I love you, Noah," she blurted out, stunned at her bad judgment but not willing to take the words back. She'd resisted long enough. She wanted the Brooklyn brownstone, the Puckleberry Bucket List, and, most of all, she wanted to be happy. She'd find a way to save him later.

He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to kiss her. When they broke apart, he whispered, "I love you, too."


	13. Fate

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me through this fic! I really appreciate all the reviews, favorites, and follows, and I love sharing the joy of Puckleberry with you guys. There will be one more chapter after this one.

**Chapter 13: Fate **

Rachel made sure to change as many things as she could. She moved their wedding date a few months later than what she'd remembered it was. She chose Mexico instead of Florida for their honeymoon. Thankfully, Noah's proposal was the same, and she was ecstatic at getting to experience it firsthand. She'd acted surprised, and he bought it, though Kurt had looked at her a little strangely.

She toyed with telling Kurt about her knowledge of the future. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Telling someone would make it real. Part of her thought it might have all been some psychic dream. Another part of her knew it had happened, but she couldn't find a way to explain it in words that didn't make her sound certifiably insane. Besides, she felt that if someone else knew of the impending accident, it might actually cause it to happen, illogical as that seemed.

Needless to say, she kept her mouth shut. And most of the time, she enjoyed her life, forgetting that it had been previously shown to her. After all, she'd only seen a glimpse. There were so many great times in between that she hadn't been aware of—glee reunions, weddings, baby showers, parties, holidays. And there were the times she'd known about and wanted to experience firsthand—traveling, building a home with Noah, Broadway performances, that mile high club induction … she had an amazing life, and she never let herself forget it.

When the invitation for _Bombshell_ came, it turned out to be starring one of her closest theater friends. But she had to decline. She couldn't risk going to that show.

The weekend of the accident, Rachel was a nervous wreck. She'd begged Noah to stay home from work on Friday. Now that she'd canceled their theater plans, maybe fate was looking for another way to take him away from her. She prayed to Patti to help her through this, but there was no answer. Noah went to work, and of course, he was fine. Their Fire Island trip with Beth on Saturday was also accident-free. She cried herself to sleep on Saturday night, enveloped in Noah's slumbering arms and yet never feeling more alone. She needed to get through one more day, and then that'd be it. As of Monday, she would have no more knowledge of the future. Whatever happened from then on was up to the universe.

At Beth's game on Sunday, she made Noah sit as far away from the field as possible, terrified of stray softballs falling from the sky. Whenever he asked why she was being so paranoid, she could only answer with, "I have a feeling something bad's going to happen." She didn't know how to tell him that this could be his last day alive.

Since they weren't heading to the theater after dropping Beth at home, Rachel convinced Noah to drive the truck into the city to get to Shelby's apartment. He hated the idea, but she didn't want him anywhere near Manhattan on foot. To his credit, he saw how worried she was and agreed.

They returned home to Brooklyn safe and sound, deciding to plan their summer vacation trip to Vegas over takeout.

"Where are you going?" she asked when he hung up the phone with the Mexican place and started putting on his shoes.

He looked up at her blankly. "Gonna go get our dinner."

"You didn't ask for delivery?" she squeaked.

"It's two blocks away. Why would I do that?" his forehead creased. "Seriously, what is gonna happen walking to Pablo's?"

"I'm coming with you." She slid on her own shoes and they headed outside. She gripped his hand and kept alert, looking for errant bike messengers and speeding cars.

They arrived at the Mexican restaurant and Rachel breathed an immense sigh of relief that they'd made it.

As the bell over the door jingled to announce their arrival, the man in front of the counter turned to see who had entered.

Rachel swallowed a scream as she took in the masked gunman in front of them and the frightened employees behind the counter. One of them was in the midst of handing over a pile of cash.

"Get out!" The masked man shouted, and Noah, who had already stepped in front of Rachel, started backing away, taking her with him. "Faster!" The man waved his gun around, and they stumbled backward, holding onto each other. Rachel's heart pounded. She prayed again for Noah's safety as they headed outside.

The masked man came tearing out of the restaurant and a car careened over the curb to pick him up. As Rachel and Noah jumped out of the way, Noah tripped on the curb edge and fell into the street. The car barreled forward, avoiding Noah and Rachel, and it zoomed away, almost colliding with another car going the opposite direction.

The second car swerved to avoid hitting the robber and skidded right to the spot where Noah had just fallen. He was halfway to his feet as Rachel ran toward him. There was a sickening crunch and then everything went black.


	14. News

This is the last chapter. Thanks again to everyone following this story!

**Chapter 14: News **

Rachel couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear a steady beeping somewhere near her head. "Baby, if you can hear me, I'm right here," Noah said, and Rachel strained to open her eyes, but could see only black. She called out for him but he didn't seem to hear her. Suddenly the blackness turned into the white abyss where she first met Patti. As her eyes adjusted to the abrupt change in color, she realized she was standing up, and staring at Patti Lupone walking toward her.

"What's happening?" she yelled, and ran toward Patti. When she reached her, Patti held out her arms and grabbed Rachel's shoulders.

"I need you to listen very carefully, Rachel. I'm really not supposed to be here, so I only have a moment. You upset fate very much today, young lady."

"I had to! Noah was going to die!"

Patti shook her head. "No, he was never going to die. When I gave you that glimpse I was under strict instructions not to reveal anything about life or death."

Rachel blanched. "You meant I spent thirteen years thinking I was going to lose him … for nothing?! How could you do that to me?"

Patti smiled. "But you still chose him. So it must have been worth it."

"I listened to you. I tried to never take anything for granted and make every moment count."

"I know you did, Rachel, and your life is better for it. After all, now Finn and his lovely family are in your life. You did that. You should be very proud of yourself for actually learning from what I gave you. Not everyone does."

"So we're out of the woods? Noah's not going to die?"

Patti chuckled. "Well, he will _some_day."

"You know what I mean," Rachel huffed.

"Listen, Rachel. You pushed Noah out of the way. He's fine. You, on the other hand ..."

"What?" Rachel gasped. She thought back to the blackness. "Am I in a coma?"

Patti shrugged apologetically. "No, I just kept you unconscious so we could have time to talk."

"Patti! Stop scaring me! I've had enough of this!" She began crying, emotions all over the place.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Yes, you got hurt, but you'll get through it. You always land on your feet."

"Kurt said the same thing to me—"

"I know he did. And it's true. You're a good person, Rachel. You deserve everything this life has given you, and you made good choices along the way. I'm sorry I had to interrupt your life so rudely all those years ago, but I was afraid you were too blinded to see what life had to offer you."

Rachel nodded. "I was. Thank you, Patti. I may not have been able to make it work with Finn but I don't regret the time we spent together. And if you hadn't made me give Noah a chance …"

"Oh, I didn't _make_ you do anything. You still chose him eventually. It just took a little, shall we say, push." With that, Patti shoved Rachel's shoulders backward and she toppled over with a shriek.

She landed back in the hospital bed, surrounded by blackness and beeping machines. She could feel Noah holding her hand. "Patti?" she called.

"Good luck, Rachel," Patti replied, though Rachel could no longer see her.

"Who's Patti?" Noah asked, and suddenly, Rachel's eyes popped open.

"Noah!" she cried. She tried to sit up but felt too weak.

"Oh my God." Noah leaned into her field of vision and wrapped his arms gingerly around her. "I thought I lost you."

"Me, too," Rachel said, taking in his tear-stained face and bright smile.

"You knew. You knew something bad was gonna happen." He stroked her hair as a nurse checked her IV fluids.

Rachel nodded carefully. "I could feel it."

"You saved my life, Baby." He was grasping both of her hands now, getting as close to her as possible without getting in the nurse's way.

"I couldn't lose you," Rachel replied, starting to cry again.

The nurse left them alone and Noah sat on the edge of her bed, crying with her. He ran his hands up and down her arms and told her about her injuries—a mild concussion, a broken leg, and a couple of bruised ribs.

She silently cursed Patti for freaking her out over nothing, because all things considered, it could have been a lot worse.

"I need to tell you something," Rachel said suddenly, realizing she had to tell him the truth.

"Yeah, Babe?" He stroked her cheek.

"I didn't just have a bad feeling about today. I knew you were going to get hurt somehow. It was supposed to happen on the way to see _Bombshell_."

"That's why you turned down that invite? How did you know?"

"Do you remember graduation day, when I ran up and kissed you?"

"High school or college?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer.

She frowned, and he wiped the grin off of his face.

"Yeah, high school, I remember."

"I had just had a, well, a premonition about it. I've spent the last thirteen years convinced you were going to die today, and I'm just so relieved …" A fresh batch of tears welled up in her eyes and she closed them, suddenly feeling tired.

"Oh, Rach," Noah leaned down to hold her and rub her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I couldn't tell you you were going to die!" she choked out.

Noah considered that. "I guess you're right."

"I thought if we never got together I could save you, but I wanted you too badly. So I gave in."

"You thought, 'if I only get a few years with him that's better than nothing'?"

"Selfish, I know." She looked away from him, and he turned her face back toward his own.

"Are you kidding me? I can't imagine my life without you. If you had never told me you loved me, we'd be apart and miserable right now. I'm so thankful for our life together. You probably saved both of us by knowing something was going to happen and trying to keep us safe this weekend. Rachel, you are the best thing in my life; it's not worth living without you," he said as his voice broke and he leaned down to kiss her.

She lifted a hand up to palm his cheek. "Cheesy but effective."

"Sure I'm cheesy, but I'm still a BAMF." He smiled down at her.

They were interrupted by the doctor, who rapped his knuckles on the doorframe.

"Ah, good, you're both here. I'm Dr. Harris. How are you feeling, Mrs. Puckerman?"

She'd changed her name officially a few months earlier, as another way to vary her life from her future glimpse. "Actually, not bad at all."

"Good, glad to hear it. You let us know if you start to feel any discomfort and we'll adjust your medication."

Rachel and Noah both nodded in understanding.

"I'll go over your injuries with you and explain about your recovery process, but first, I have some good news."

Rachel and Noah looked at him expectantly, and he broke into a grin.

"You're probably not aware of this yet because it's very early on, but Mrs. Puckerman, you're pregnant."

Rachel gasped and Noah let out a whoop, kissing her hand as she processed this. "Is the baby okay? I mean, with my injuries?" Rachel asked anxiously, still hardly daring to believe this was true.

"We're going to keep a close eye on things going forward, but your accident shouldn't have harmed the baby in any way," Dr. Harris assured her.

"Thanks, Doc," Noah said sincerely, getting up to shake his hand.

"Congratulations, you two. I'll let you celebrate and you can call me back in when you're ready to discuss the boring stuff." He winked at them and then disappeared into the hall.

"Whoa, crazy, right?" Noah turned to Rachel, who was still a little stunned.

"I think I'll have a better reaction when I'm more awake, but," she motioned for him to join her on the bed again, "this _is_ pretty amazing."

He curled up next to her on the opposite side of her injured leg and propped up her pillow a little more so she wasn't flat on her back.

She grabbed his hand and they smiled at each other for a few moments as Noah put a hand to her abdomen, careful to avoid her injured ribcage.

"I love you," Rachel whispered as she watched him caress her stomach.

His eyes drifted back up to hers and he kissed her gently. "Love you," he murmured as they kissed.

She pulled away when she felt herself drifting off. "Before I fall asleep again, who should we call first?"

Noah reached into his pocket for his cell phone, tapping it with his thumb to bring up the screen. "Your dads?"

"No."

"My mom?" he suggested, eyebrows furrowing.

"No. One more guess."

"Beth!" they said together, smiling.

Noah put the phone on speaker and pressed Beth's name. The phone started ringing.

"Hey Dad, is Rachel okay?"

"I texted her to tell her what happened," he explained to Rachel. "Yeah, Honey, she's gonna be fine. Really just a broken leg and some bruises. She's actually right here."

"Hi, Beth," Rachel said.

"Whoa, that's rough. Hey, how you feeling?"

"Well, the morning sickness hasn't kicked in yet, so …" Rachel grinned at Noah, who chuckled.

"Wait, what? What are you …" She trailed off, the meaning of Rachel's joke sinking in. "Oh my God. Oh my God. No. Really? You are? Oh my God!"

Rachel and Noah shared another smile as Beth continued her exclamations over the news.

She wasn't sure if it was the medicine or the concussion, but she heard the faint sound of clapping in the back of her mind. Then it hit her—it was Patti, applauding.


End file.
